Tonight, Tonight
by Wends
Summary: The journey of a Knight, the dreams of a Sorcerer, the strives of false saviors and the fears of humanity twist into a song that taints all who hear it with doubt and terror. A quest for the salvation of one threatens the destruction of all as the battle-scarred world risks the wrath of the moon. (sequel to Shadow of the Day, rated for language and violence)
1. Time, Never Time at all

As promised, this continues with the arc started in Shadow of the Day. So the crossover between Final Fantasy VII and VIII continues on its apparently heinous path that is loathed by Cloud fanboys everywhere – keeping him in a world where he's not the greatest thing in the history of ever, where materia doesn't exist, where Guardian Forces can only be harnessed by SeeD personnel, where even his Mako-granted awesomeness isn't really all that awesome when put side by side with a trained and fully junctioned SeeD. Yeah, that fic. The one where Zell Dincht kicked Cloud Strife's rear so hard it took him an indeterminate amount of time to recover. The one where his time onboard Balamb Garden was spent in the brig. The one that actually takes the world of Final Fantasy VIII and attempts to do it justice rather than have it being a "OMG wudntit b soo awzum if Cloud roed n Garden n had GFs n shit n wud be strongr thn ne1 LOLZ!111!1!1!" backdrop for a 'Cloud is better than everything' fanfic. The fic that actually uses game statistics much to the chagrin of some, rather than fanwanking like a dildo to Advent Children because it was visually pretty (but plotwise kind of a desolate wasteland of mediocrity).

Yup, we're here to watch the Sorcerer's Knight take on the world of Final Fantasy VIII for thirteen lovely chapters. Perhaps along the way, we'll also develop a plot! Time to break out the characterizations of random non-playable background people, the maps and the bottle of life to breath into the landscapes. I certainly hope you enjoy the ride as we revisit Final Fantasy VIII's world through the eyes of Cloud Strife!

Once more, this is written in two different perspectives. Yeah, it follows the same general format of the last story as well. So at least you know what to expect, neh? Kinda. Sorta. Almost, but not quite and totally different but not exactly. Or, as Squall would fill in with, "Whatever."

And expect more Zell Love. Because the more I replay FF8 and expose myself to his personality while getting to abuse his cheap as hell limit break (one-hit-killing everything in the game is sweet), the more I absolutely love that spastic little twit.

Disclaimer: I in no way own any portion of the Final Fantasy franchise except the spiffy stuff I've purchased over the years and the Squall plushie that accompanies me on deployment for snuggling purposes. Nor do I own any song by the Smashing Pumpkins, especially not 'Tonight, Tonight' which provides not only the lyrics that became chapter titles for this story but also inspiration for this fic. Please don't sue – I'm simply an E6 in the Navy, and therefore I have no money. Ha.

_-BEGIN FIC-_

Chapter 1  
Time, Never Time at All

_Does this Time truly exist? Is this the distant Past before the sun warmed the planet? Or do I feel the Future when the sun has finally died? This can't be the Present. This Present can't exist in Time. This Time can never be Time at all._

_The Present can't be so frozen. The Present can't be so black. The Present can't be so empty. The Present can't be so lonely._

_I feel as if I am enshrouded in ice, unable to move, unable to breath, unable to feel anything other than the deathly chill that infests my flesh and sears my senses. My only restitute is Time far removed from this Time. A Time where my world is not encased in glacial frost._

_A Time of warmth, of comfort, of love._

* * *

A shiver touched the blond man's pale skin.

The sun hovered in the sky, its yellow spherical shape a brilliant blot in an eternal field of blue. Its pure light caressed the soft golden sands that stretched from green plains to kiss the ocean's azure waves, buried under frothy white sea foam moment by moment only to emerge again once the waters receded to once more build strength enough to meet the beach. Grass swayed in a light breeze that danced across the sparkling sea, carrying the crisp and pleasant clime of the northern reaches in its tender touch to drive the stifling heat of stagnant mid-summer away from the lands.

Rubbing his forearms absently, brilliant blue eyes watching the waves loll lazily against the beach, the man sighed quietly. Once the odd chill had left his flesh, he returned to his sport of sipping from his bottle of water and working on the impossible task of tanning his pale complexion.

Cloud Strife was bored.

He had come to the Holy Glory Cape nearly a week prior, a mutter overheard in a bar from a pair of SeeD-uniformed personnel out on mission having pointed him to that particular destination. While the clue had proven correct, the goods he required were very slow in coming, driving his extended vacation.

The SeeD youths had been complaining about requiring adamantine for a weapon they desired to have crafted at the Nautilus Shop in Dollet. After their lamentations about how they had lost the powerful cards in their deck to a shifty local in the bar, they had griped about how hard it was to get transport to the Holy Glory Cape to hunt adamantoises without good reason – the current Commander was apparently too frugal and stingy to appropriate funds for travel outside of mission necessities.

Cloud had focused silently on their overly loud and boisterous conversation, their volumes driven by alcohol and disappointment. Disguising his own smirk of satisfaction with his drink, he'd run his own checklist through his head – adamantine was an item he was seeking.

He'd traveled to Dollet on a whim – he'd lost his favorite Triple Triad card to a woman he'd challenged in the newly constructed train station in Balamb City.

Cloud had originally been attempting to track down any of the SeeD personnel he'd become acquainted with during his short stay aboard the mobile Garden and had thought to check their Academy's namesake island – unfortunately, his intuition had led him astray, taking him to an empty pier where no Garden was stationed as they were out performing maneuvers in the middle of the ocean. His avenue for direction and assistance unavailable, Cloud had decided to meander through the city itself, taking in the sights.

Balamb had been slowly crawling from the mire that had buried it over a year ago.

While Cloud had never seen the city, nor any portion of the world for that matter, in its original state, he could easily discern what damage had been dealt to it by the happenings that occurred when the monstrous Guardian Force Eden had demolished the prison that held Jenova upon Cloud's home world and dragged her essence through space to punish the world she was prophesized to destroy. Though not shattered by earthquakes as Timber's capital city had been, Balamb had been buried under enormous waves. Most of the original structures that had made up the charming seaside community were still naught but ruins, stray walls rising from cobblestone brushed clean with a year's worth of tending and rains. New buildings, sturdier in construction than the adobe shelters that had originally constituted Balamb's traditional downtown region, dotted the edges of the rubble that still stretched inland from the sea. The piers had been extended, walkways starting at the new edge of Balamb City that rested nearly a quarter mile from the junction of water and land, passing over scattered stones and permanently destroyed abodes, weaving around the remnants of roads and the shades of the previous community to thrust into the island's deep harbor.

Smaller in size than its namesake, the newer rendition of Balamb City was nonetheless a proud, prosperous little area, sprawling more into suburbia than it had before. With the vast majority of its population choosing to have their homes built inland, the city itself had become more of an industry center and trade depot than it had been before. Few business dared to build upon the new shoreline, windows staring over destruction leading into nature's most deceiving destruction force as it gently lapped against the rubble-strewn shore.

Passing by a weathered hotel that proudly sported a banner over its front door professing 'Refurbished, Renovated, Inspected and Safe! Open for Business!' and a neighboring restaurant with a pleasant looking and slightly plump woman bustling between tables and asking her patrons how they were enjoying their meals, Cloud had wandered eventually to the newly rebuilt Train Station. Staring ponderously at the huge cranes thrusting out of the water and the large sheets of metal jutting from the waves, he had asked those who mingled what he was looking at – a woman in a flowing dress with long brunette hair had smiled and explained that they had finished repairing the underwater train tunnel nearly two months ago, but the cranes and spare metal were standing by in the event of failure of the recently reworked welds near Balamb Island.

She'd then asked him if he played cards. Bored and disheartened by his lack of direction with his quest to finish the task the wily Odine in Esthar had given him, he'd readily agreed to a game.

After losing his favorite card, an Angelo he'd managed to win by the skin of his teeth from a girl he'd played at the station at Salt Lake when he'd left the Sorceress Memorial in Esthar, the woman had consoled Cloud by telling him that her little brother was much easier to win against, that he had every card she had in her own deck, and that he was currently living with their father, an aged artist who lived across from the restaurant named Spice in Dollet.

Finally having found a direction to wander in, Cloud had thanked the woman and purchased a ticket to Dollet immediately, his eyebrow only twitching slightly when he noticed how many connecting lines he'd had to transfer between.

Once in Dollet, he'd found the boy in question and won an Angelo card easily enough. He'd also won a handful of Anacondaurs, some T-Rexaurs, a Hexdragon, a pair of Tonberries, an Alexander and much to his shock a Gilgamesh before the boy's father had evicted him from the premise on charges of pilfering from his child, regardless of the boy's whining that he was having fun even if he was losing.

It had been then that Cloud had meandered into the bar and accidentally overheard where he was to go. Without hesitation he had left the area, gone to the piers of Dollet and chartered a ride to Hope Glory Cape, paying with the small pittance of gil he had remaining from the time he'd escorted a wealthy woman and her children through the dangerous fields surrounding the train station that had been erected at the termination of the Balamb Underwater Line to reach their vacation home on the outskirts of a tiny town that had escaped the ravages of Sephiroth during the hunts around Obel Lake.

When the proprietor of the boat had asked him whether or not he'd expect to return, Cloud had simply shrugged as he'd tossed his considerable baggage onto the beach. "I'll call you," he'd stated as he'd waved the man's business card. Without any further question the boat's owner had abandoned the area, apparently unwilling to remain for an overt period of time on those sandy shores.

Cloud had quickly discovered why – the beaches were crawling with red fish-like monstrosities known as Fastitocalon-F's. While not so tough to dispose of individually, the creatures enjoyed gathering in small schools and hiding in the barrier provided by golden granules of sand, emerging only to float eerily in the air and snap their sharp teeth into exposed skin.

They had quickly passed from frightening monster into the realms of reliable food source and irritant, though. Now Cloud was lounging well away from the beach, resting near a small natural spring he'd found that formed a pond in the grassy plains that dissolved into that fish-infested beach, simply waiting for the odd scratchy roar that heralded the coming of the giant turtle-like creatures he sought.

Laying in the sun for the last six days, his duffle bag with his worldly possessions at his side and his backpack with the items he'd been gathering for Odine serving as a comfortable pillow, Cloud had been reduced to humming march music, sorting his Triple Triad deck in a myriad of different orders and pondering exactly how he was going to accomplish the task he'd set out to accomplish.

When he'd left the Sorceress Memorial in Esthar, it had seemed so very easy.

All he'd been assigned was the mission to gather specific items required to build a mystical bracelet. He'd been tasked with a fetch quest, finding an array of rare oddities the strange little man named Odine required to make his contraption. Cloud had thought it an easy job for a delivery boy. His list wasn't so daunting in length, either; the man who'd contracted his services only needed six items to complete his invention.

While Cloud had originally thought his assignment easy, he swiftly discovered that nothing could be further from the truth.

The first two months of his sojourn into the world he'd been cast into, he'd found himself bouncing from shop to shop, from person to person, throughout the vast technological marvel that was Esthar's turquoise capital city. Not a single person had any clue as to who would hold stock in the items he was seeking. Some outright laughed. Others suggested he speak to those who dealt in more unique and rare items than themselves, but had no clue as to where said individuals could be located. One, the owner of the shop that Cloud felt so very awkward visiting as his name and its matched perfectly (the owner explained that it was named after the sky's cloud's, in memoriam of his wife and their favorite thing to do during outings – looking to the sky and comparing imaginative figures they saw in the heavens) suggested he consult with SeeD, but also added the advice to be prepared to pay for services rendered, even if that service was only advice. With that suggestion, Cloud's world was brought crisply into focus.

During his time in Esthar, he had been living in the Presidential Palace at the insistence of President Laguna Loire. No one asked him any questions when he had paid for his assorted lunches, beverages and various clothing items with the card he'd been given by the man who claimed him as an honored guest. But if he were to leave Esthar, to seek SeeD, he'd need a means of providing for himself.

Cloud was no natural resident of the planet he now was calling home.

Swept from his homeland over a year ago in a flash of energy formed by the Planet to expel Jenova's remains through a conduit created between worlds by the explosive power of Eden, he had found himself without recourse for return, stranded in an alien land. While he had made a handful of friends, most of them were attached to the massive mobile military base, Balamb Garden. The rest of his good associates were in Esthar – the cheery President Laguna Loire, his stalwart and level-headed assistant Kiros Seagill, his patient and immovable side-man Ward Zabac, and the man to whom his fate was irrevocably tethered – Squall Leonhart.

As it was, he had no personal history in any of the nations that ruled the complex planet he'd been deposited on – no identification, no education, no job prospects.

However, he was quite familiar with the shoes he'd found himself in. Recollections of his struggles on his home world fresh on his brain, he'd delved into his creativity, selling assorted services for gil transferred to a rechargeable card he purchased for himself before returning Laguna's gift to him and leaving the comfort of the Palace. While hunting monsters and exterminating them was something he was readily available for and did a good amount of, Cloud found himself thoroughly befuddled and amused by some of the other tasks he'd taken part in. He'd helped to construct houses, aided a man on the beach by the train station outside of Salt Lake repair holes in the hull of his yacht, painted fences, mowed lawns, wrangled massive wild chocobos, plowed fields, laid railroad tracks, herded livestock and escorted school children to the Lunatic Pandora Laboratory for field trips. Having become a jack-of-all-trades over the near year he'd spent on the Esthar continent to build a comfortable buffer of finances to journey, he'd truly begun his task almost eight months after the cataclysmic events that had placed him in the services of Odine in the first place.

It had taken that long for him to finally meet a SeeD, his encounter entirely occurring by chance and his recognition faint at best. The man had blended in with the crowd perfectly, his short brunet hair, sun-kissed skin, plain dress with baggy tan pants and a loose brown shirt, sandals on his feet and slight scruff marring his chin all nothing out of the ordinary. It was only by the long and heavy black staff with its weighted silver ends in his left hand, a twist of his lips and raise of his right hand in a friendly wave as the young man had addressed a woman to thank her for some cards that Cloud's brain had sprung to recognition.

Spade had been quite shocked to see Cloud Strife in Esthar, and for the price of one game of Triple Triad he had been quite willing to divulge pertinent information for Cloud's benefit. Though Cloud quite thoroughly lost to the experienced card player, Spade had still grinned and thanked him for the fun game, taking only a Geezard from Cloud's hand before starting to speak.

Cloud had learned that of all the items he had been tasked with gathering, only one could be obtained without the assistance of Guardian Forces. Adamantine was dropped by monsters – but none around Esthar carried it, Spade quickly informed him. As for which monsters dropped that item and where they could be located, the SeeD was uncertain – he had never bothered with it before, having not required it for anything he'd had built in a Junk Shop or for any other item he'd refined.

The other items Cloud sought would have to be crafted via refining. When Cloud had asked what 'refining' was, Spade told him that regrettably only SeeD personnel could accomplish that task, as only SeeD personnel had access to the Guardian Forces that made refining possible.

Spade had then taken Cloud's list and pondered it for a while, calling one of his fellow SeeDs on his phone before adding to Odine's scrawl.

"There you go," Spade had chirped as he'd handed the list back over to Cloud. "If you gather those, you'll have everything necessary to refine what you need. I won't ask what this stuff is for – just know that if you run into me, I'll help you however I can. In fact, any of us will."

"Any of you?" Cloud had inquired.

"The Card Club, my friend. Squall was the greatest competition we'd ever had. He won our loyalty not just as an outstanding SeeD and our Commander, but also as a fellow Triple Triad player. Regardless of where the Garden stands, we stand with him."

Cloud had thanked Spade profusely, insisting on paying for his dinner before leaving the establishment they had been conversing in.

He had then journeyed to the Palace to speak to the guards who worked there – after all, he needed to know where he would be able to find the carriers of a few items.

In less than a week after his meeting with Spade, Cloud truly hit the wilderness of the Esthar continent, living off the meager offerings of the desert land and his sparse provisions while hunting behemoths like a man possessed.

For two months he wandered the desert to do battle with the various monsters he could find, loading his pack with the odd, flat mirror-like palm-sized stones the people he'd spoken to in scattered desert communities stated were indeed the 'barrier' items he was seeking provided he didn't break them during battle with the beasts. Coming a few short of the fifty barriers Spade had told him he needed, Cloud decided to alter his journey once he'd stopped coming across the huge behemoths he was hunting, their numbers depleted to near nonexistence and those that remained having taken to fleeing from him rather than confronting him. Cresting the impressive cliff that separated the deserts from the largest burned-out forest Cloud had ever seen in his life, he found another brand of monster to pursue, the spikes he was able to pull from some of their cloaks another item he'd been told to retrieve.

With a backpack filled with spikes and barriers and a surprising lack of skeletal forbiddens and massive behemoths to hunt as their numbers lay in waste thanks to Cloud's efforts with his massive Caladbolg greatsword, the blond moved on. It had been then, almost a year to the day after he'd been stranded on the world he now inhabited, that he'd decided to go to Balamb.

He'd thought to visit the Sorceress Memorial before he left the continent, but ultimately decided against it.

The sight of his charge was one he didn't wish to burn into his eyes at that time – his heart, already heavy with the thought of what he was tasked with and why he carried his duty, would waver in its dedication to leave.

Cloud pondered that as he lay on the plains and stared at the sky while sipping water from his bottle.

When he'd been living with Tifa so very long ago, he only had minimal resistance to leaving his abode. While his heart did find sadness in leaving the woman he loved behind, he found little difficulty in departing the home they shared. At first, while he was never certain that he'd actually live to return, he cared so little for his vague and, so far as he was concerned, entirely inconsequential existence that he'd abandon his friends and companion for months without hesitation. Without a sense of overarching purpose or pride in his own being, he felt himself an expendable, insignificant being that could fade at any moment without repercussion. As time moved and he'd determined that perhaps he was enough to live for, he found some hesitation to leave those who cared deeply for him but not enough to hold him in place.

On this alien world, he had quite inadvertently tethered himself to a Sorcerer and become ultimately responsible for the young magician's sanity. Cloud found himself with an impossibly enormous undertaking, one the world depended on him to accomplish in order to remain safe from the ravages of the dark Moon-God Hyne's magic channeled through his earthly vessel. It was a responsibility he couldn't escape, one he couldn't run from and leave in any location like he could the mediocre responsibilities he'd held on his home world. And aiding him in his task, the bond he shared with the Sorcerer allowed him to determine the younger man's moods and emotions as well as allowed the other to track Cloud's very thoughts if he so chose to do so; at all times they could be aware of the others' presence – there was no way one could completely escape the touch of the other as Cloud could escape on his world of origin. The Sorcerer could hunt him down at any moment, even as he could determine his Sorcerer's general whereabouts and mood by the strength of the foreign emotions that dwelled at the base of his brain.

Cloud let his eyes drift shut, his mind searching every dark corner it possessed for the touch of his Sorcerer. Finding only the barest hint of that contact that had become so very familiar to him over the last year, a touch of cold laced with loneliness, Cloud sighed and ceased his search. The lack of strength told him all he wished to know – his Sorcerer was still asleep, still trapped in the depths of his mind, still encased in his crystalline prison in Esthar.

Returning to his recollections, Cloud resumed staring at the sky. With a frown touching his lips, he huffed to himself – of course he'd be unwilling to leave had he visited. The one at the other end of the bond was indeed lonely. Something within Cloud desired more than anything to rectify that.

Some time within the last year, the feelings that he had begun to develop when they'd first met, when they'd held their first shy and halted conversations with one another in the destroyed wasteland that was Timber's capital, had deepened beyond affable willingness to fulfill his role as Knight.

He genuinely wanted the Sorcerer to find happiness. He wanted to remain with him, even though it meant never returning to what he once considered his home. He wished to make the world he'd inhabited for the last year his permanent dwelling, to learn how to cut a decent living from the cloth that was the complex environment he was thrust into. He desired nothing but to explore the tentative emotion his Sorcerer had expressed in the final lines of his journal, perhaps to see if he could help his shy charge see that Cloud wished to remain right where he was, that there was no need to worry about sending him across time and space to rejoin with his old companions, that his past was over and done and his life had truly begun a little more than one year ago, and that the emotion the Sorcerer assigned to his Knight could be returned in full.

Cloud knew that if he'd gone to the Memorial, he would have sat by the sarcophagus that held the boy he sought to free, willing him to awaken and taking him from his frozen prison before completing his task.

He wouldn't let himself return to the Memorial before he had everything Odine needed to create another bracelet akin to the one that had been offered to the last Sorceress to threaten humanity. He wouldn't try to free his Sorcerer until they had a means to suppress the incredible powers that raced through his blood, to keep him from channeling Hyne's power and losing himself to madness brought by touching the mind of the insane God of the moon. He wouldn't stop his hunt until he had the means to keep the younger man from staring into the abyss of Time, to keep him rooted in the Present.

After the display of power against the apocalypse-heralding Eden, against Jenova's final remnants when they'd infested the remains of the last Sorceress to inhabit the world, against Jenova's resurrected son, Cloud would not return until he had a means to keep Squall under control, to keep him from accidentally demolishing all that was dear to him in a fit of rage and uncontrolled explosive power. The Knight clearly recalled the look of sheer terror that had flashed across Squall's eyes when he'd first unleashed and sank Eden into the ocean off of Galbadia's eastern seaboard – he'd do anything to keep that fear from flashing through those gunmetal orbs again.

A throaty roar resounded from the beach.

"Always when I'm relaxing," Cloud grunted as he lifted his head and glowered at the sands.

Sure enough, a huge pair of domed shells breached the ocean's gently lapping waves as a two enormous adamantoises dragged themselves onto the beach, their clawed feet digging into the soft golden sands and heaving their mass towards the plains.

Sitting upright, Cloud rested his hand on the beaten metal guard of his sword, sliding his fingers under the massive twist of metal that formed its protective basket to grip the leather encased hilt. Letting his fingers find the grooves in that leather that months of behemoth slaying had engrained into it, he cast a light smile down at the heavy chunk of steel at his side. "Ready to go, Caladbolg?" he quietly asked of his faithful companion.

The blade, the massive finalized version of the world's greatsword that rivaled Cloud's old Buster Sword in length if not in width or weight, silently laid in his hand.

It was a gift from Squall, a tool granted to Cloud's custody by necessity. When first he'd received it, he'd doubted its worth based on the shop they'd purchased it from – his past experiences purchasing items from self-proclaimed 'Junk Shops' back on his world had not resulted in him garnering anything of quality. However, he was quick to discover that his new home world and that of his past were quite different in that regard as well – the weapon he'd been given was of higher quality than some of the best weapon he'd laid his fingers on at home, putting everything Shin-Ra issued to shame and, over time, had proven more sturdy and reliable than his Ultima Weapon, that blade having finally given way after a year of service and driving Cloud to upgrade to his First Tsurugi, the weapon he'd lost during his transition from his world of origin to his new abode. Caladbolg looked fragile, its notched blade thin and slender, its blue-tinted metal with its brilliant blue edging and blood-letting trough appearing more ornamental than functional. Only its impressive length and heavy, plain hilt basket lent it any visible inkling of usability. Even the pommel's heavy knob, carved into a stylized roaring lion's head, lent it an aura of beauty rather than of usefulness. However, the weapon had proven itself time and time again – slicing through thick behemoth bone proved as easy with the final beast Cloud had slain as it had with the first; the blade had hardly dulled and showed no nicks from all the times it had been thrown, tossed or hammered against stone; the lion's head, while heavily scratched and matted to the point where its original shine was long gone, was still recognizable; only the hilt basket showed truly viable wear, its mirror-like gleam and smooth contours lost to battle and wear, its shape bent and dented and its metal scratched and gouged beyond repair from providing its given purpose as a savior of the sword-hand in battle.

Lifting the weapon with ease, its perfectly balanced length moving as precisely as it had when Cloud had first received it, the blond warrior rose from the grass and smiled. "Maybe this time, those damned fish won't show up before I can claim my adamantine. It'd suck if I lost another one because it got buried in the sand or kicked into the sea during a fight."

A single moment was spent reaching into one of the pockets of his pants to retrieve a small sphere. Cloud lifted it before his eyes, twirling it between his fingers even as he tightened his grip on Caladbolg's hilt, admiring the soft yellow color as it sparkled in the sun. He pinched the bauble as hard as he could – as it crumbled, Cloud closed his eyes, reveling in the tingling sensation that spread throughout his flesh, the dust of that marble sinking into his pores and imbuing its magic onto him. His senses, tainted by a mix of soft gold and sharper than normal, verily danced as he laid his left hand on the lower portion of the long hilt of Caladbolg and bellowed his challenge to the monsters. Within the barest blink of an eye, Cloud charged to the beach.

Both adamantoise raised their gnarled heads. One belted out a dire roar while the other ducked its skull towards the sand and shuffled its front legs vigorously in the sand.

Bracing himself, Cloud swung his hand before his eyes and squinted, pinching them shut as harshly as he could. This was his second time fighting the massive turtles that crawled onto the Cape – he knew what was coming.

Still, regardless of his knowledge of what was coming, he found it difficult to stay on his feet when the whirlwind sandstorm blasted over him and granules of sand dug into his flesh, the sharp stinging blast drawing blood and flaying open skin. Sliding back in the sand, he dropped to his knees and dug his fingers into the ground as deeply as he could. His head bowed, he spat a mouthful of sand and saliva onto the beach as the whirlwind's impressive strength finally began to die away, ignoring the instinctual longing to either pull his hand from the sand and wipe his lips or release Caladbolg and do the same. Rather than clearing his mouth he charged, his feet digging deeply into the sand.

Running with all of his might towards his attackers, Cloud roared as he swung his sword before him. The beast that had flung the beach's sands towards him stared as the blue blade rapidly approached its head, while the other adamantoise snapped its jaws open and shut.

Cloud cursed as a brilliant blue sphere of magic, a _Protect_ spell, dropped into place just before his sword made contact with flesh and sent it rebounding away with a sharp 'ping.' "Alright, you tricky bastards. Let's see what else you've got," he snarled as he dug through the vast pockets of his cargo pants. Gripping a small round sphere tightly between his fingers, he drew it into sunlight, gave it a quick glance, and threw it as hard as he could at the shelled monster before him.

As the sphere shattered upon collision and a blanket of smothering darkness fell over the beast's head to blind it to the world, Cloud grinned and readied his weapon once more. Without sight, the adamantoise charged with a frustrated roar, swinging one of its huge clawed forelimbs forward in a vain attempt to make contact with the swordsman and failing utterly. Leaping readily out of the way of the clumsy attack, Cloud rolled on the beach between the two adamantoises and swung his sword towards the back of his initial target.

The beast howled loudly as its huge lumbering tail was cleanly severed by Caladbolg, hot blood gushing from its remaining stump and pouring over the golden sands.

As it shook its head wildly, guttural snarls and howls echoing along the beach, Cloud quickly dodged an oncoming rush from the other giant beast and threw another hard sphere at it from the same pocket in his cargo pants.

Cloud snarled as the wounded animal lifted its head and yowled, drawing a soothing white wind from the ether and swirling it around both adamantoises.

"Cute. Real cute," Cloud grunted as he readied his sword once more.

Still blinded, the beasts both attempted to fling sand in his direction – Cloud was able to dodge, seeing precisely where they were aiming and being able to run without them easily tracking his movement. A quick leap from the sands into the air and off to his left cleared him of the attack easily, setting him up for a counter.

His foot touched the soft beach; he immediately launched himself back into the air. Turning quickly midair, he brought his sword before him, aiming carefully for the beast that wallowed in the sand, its stump still bleeding at a reduced rate onto the yellow land below, the horns on either side of its head digging through the sand.

With a yell he plunged into the center of the targeted adamantoise, Caladbolg punching cleanly into the beast's shell and drawing a fountain of blood from its armored body. As it howled in pain, Cloud wrenched his weapon free and leapt from the top of the monster. As the second and as of that moment untouched creature began to chatter once more, Cloud snarled and spun in a quick circle on his toe as he touched down.

"Let me show you how it's done!" he roared as he turned Caladbolg mid-twirl, ripping the atmosphere around him and wrenching the sand away from the beach. The whirlwind created by his rapid swing raced over the landscape, swiftly enveloping the two monsters.

When both adamantoises ducked their heads and yowled while they were sliced by rapidly swirling sands, Cloud charged into the fray with his sword leading the way. As the more wounded of the two monsters lifted its head from the sands, blood-laced saliva dribbling from its slacked jaws, Caladbolg punched cleanly through its massive skull.

The second monster shuffled backwards, its feet digging into the mild resistance of the ground as it attempted to retreat to the safety of the sea.

Yanking his greatsword out of the slain adamantoise, Cloud turned, his hand instantly in a pocket of his cargo pants. In a blink of an eye, he hurled another stone at the retreating creature.

It screamed as it was enveloped in a ball of hideously hot fire, its thick skin smoldering and cracking in the intense heat. Cloud held his free hand before his eyes to shield them from the brilliance of the flames as they ate into his foe.

The adamantoise scrambled for the ocean. Cloud intercepted his burning foe.

The beast recoiled as the blue greatsword in Cloud's hands bit into one of the giant horns that protected its head, snapping the hard projection cleanly away. With a hiss the enormous monster dug its feet into the sands and kicked them up over itself. Cloud grit his teeth as he watched the licks of flame that were still dancing over the thick shell smother and die under the barrage of golden granules.

Then the blond warrior cursed loudly – the faint golden sheen that had been cast upon his flesh by the marble he'd crushed before properly engaging the adamantoises faded away. The magic of the _Aura_ stone had worn off.

Wheezing before him, breath drawn painfully past slackened and burned jaws, the monster clacked its mouth open and shut a few times – a brilliant purple bubble swirled over it, coating its blackened body in its sheen. Cloud realized instantly that the _Shell_ would protect it from the brutality of any spell stone he could hurl against it.

He also recalled that this adamantoise did not have _Protect_ over it.

Charging once again, he lifted his sword.

The adamantoise flung one of its forelimbs at the warrior, intercepting the weapon with painfully pitched grating filling the air as sharp claws scraped along metal.

A hiss escaped Cloud's lips as he struggled against the massive beast's strength, every ounce of his power tested and nearly overcome. A howl roared from the monster's throat as it pushed back, trying to drive the man to the ground.

Cloud swiftly ducked to his left, drawing his sword quickly away.

As the adamantoise stumbled forward, its face nearly plowing into the beach, Cloud instantly found purchase beneath his feet and lunged back at the creature. His sword aimed not at its shell but at the ground right below it, he plunged Caladbolg's sharp tip into the sand and heaved against the hilt.

Completely off balance and befuddled by Cloud's tactics, the beast failed to anticipate the attack and was taken by surprise. Its feet flailed uselessly in the air as Cloud put every ounce of his impressive strength into lifting the hilt of his sword, using it as a lever to flip his enemy over.

The adamantoise yowled as it rolled onto its back, its limbs writhing in the air as it lashed the sand with its tail and attempted to push against the ground with its massive head and in an effort to upright itself.

A sneer taking his lips, Cloud pulled Caladbolg free of the beach and quickly lifted it high. Then with a snarl, he plunged it into the soft underbelly of the monster.

The adamantoise gurgled as blood spurt from its mouth and nostrils. Its limbs fell slack as its eyes lost focus and glazed completely.

Yanking his blade free of the beast's corpse, Cloud sighed and wiped his brow, frowning as sweat and blood from the monsters' initial attack mingled and stained his hand. "Damn it," he quietly whispered, "That was kind of a challenge."

Rolling his shoulders, the popping of joints and fresh snaps of pain tingling on his nerves, Cloud shook his head sharply to focus on what he was supposed to do. Without any further hesitation, he lifted Caladbolg once more and used it to flip the heavy corpse of the dead adamantoise whose belly he'd flayed back upright. Then with a grunt he hefted himself onto the monster's back and dug his fingernails underneath the small, silver point of the centermost segment of the adamantoise's shell.

Heaving with all of his might, his teeth grit to the point of cracking enamel, Cloud nearly screamed in frustration as his fingers came loose before the focal point of his battle, the singular piece of adamantine in the shell's center, budged at all. An infuriated growl leaked from his throat as he picked his blade up from the sands and attempted to pry the metal loose with its tip.

Even as the adamantine came loose, he fell to his knees, his breath coming in desperate pants. Wiping his brow, he turned to the other corpse and groaned as he dragged himself to his feet and staggered towards his second prize.

Repeating his efforts with the chunk of adamantine embedded in the shell of the second monster's mutilated shell, Cloud pushed on Caladbolg's hilt with all of his strength. After many minutes of work, the metal piece finally lifted on one side. Shoving the sword's tip as far under the metal as it could go, the warrior then wriggled it in the hollow underneath the sought-after prize to work it loose.

As the second piece of adamantine dropped onto the sand, something within Cloud's mind bristled with worry.

A year ago, he wouldn't have had any problems removing the problematic chunks of silvery metal.

Since coming to the world he now inhabited, Cloud had found himself steadily weakening. His inhuman strength, impossible speed, unfailing stamina and incredible agility that placed him above and beyond any combatant he'd fought with the sole exception of junctioned SeeD personnel were slowly seeping away. The green acidic fire of power that once flared with little provocation along his senses and in his veins had dwindled significantly.

The source of power the cells infused in his body had once tapped was destroyed, after all; Jenova's main host and the compilation of her major cellular material had been completely incinerated by the power of the Sorcerer. Without the central body to derive their might from, those few fragments that still swam in Cloud's blood were steadfastly decaying. And without the Lifestream from which it had sprung, the mako that had poisoned his mind and been absorbed into his cells was dying off. No refreshment of power was available; the world Cloud now called home was devoid of a Lifestream so far as he could tell. Its magic came instead from Sorcery, fragments of power left by tragic clashes between planet and moon according to the legends Cloud had heard; according to the SeeDs Cloud had conversed with, it was derived by more scientific methods, the Guardian Forces themselves stripping energy leaking from small faults in the planet's crust and forming it into a plethora of spells, those spells' types determined by the gamma wavelength, energy potential and different incident particles trapped in the leaks from the planet's interior.

Cloud sighed as he picked up his silvery prizes and sat down on the beach.

Regardless of how magic was derived, he knew one thing – without a Lifestream like that of his world of origin the mako in his veins would eventually fade away, the superior abilities granted to SOLDIER experiment subjects doomed to disintegrate into obscurity.

He was becoming as any other man on this world was – completely ordinary.

Eventually he would be no match for the monsters he regularly faced to earn his sporadic income of gil.

Someday, he would be no equal for the SeeDs of Balamb with their paramagic and their inhuman abilities granted to them by their contracts with the world's most powerful monstrosities and demigods.

He feared that soon he would be unworthy of being the Sorcerer's Knight.

His job as a Knight was to defend his Sorcerer; to prevent the young man from having to tap into his reservoir of magic, from touching the mind of Hyne, from blending his soul with that of a deity beyond human comprehension was his purpose. Rather than risk the Sorcerer losing his sanity, his compassion, his very humanity to the God whose power roared through his veins, Cloud was to defend him from the world. And Cloud worried that, with his strength dwindling, he might not be able to perform his task as he was fated to do.

And considering that Sorcery was seen as the bane of the world, dreaded by all nations and all peoples, Cloud feared he'd have his work cut out for him. The threat by monsters was minimal in the new world Cloud called home – while some were by far more threatening than anything he'd ever faced on his world of origin, he could easily avoid them. Peoples' fear of his Sorcerer would be more problematic.

It wasn't any animalistic, simple-minded foe he'd have to defend Squall from – it was humanity itself. Cloud worried that without his power, he'd be incapable of providing the protection his young Sorcerer would need. That Squall would dig into the might of Hyne and lose himself to madness, becoming the threat to the world that everyone feared. That SeeD, his friends, would be forced by the terror of the planet to finally come and destroy him once and for all.

"Means I've got to hurry," Cloud mused softly as he stared at the two chunks of rare metal in his palm. "Won't be any good out there fighting to get what I need for that creepy Odine if I don't have the strength to defeat my foes. And that damned merchant in town charges far too much for magic stones – can't rely on those in place of my sword."

Finally reaching into his pants pockets, he pulled a light pink orb free and twirled it between his fingers, staring at the sun through its delicate sheen and debating the wisdom of using one of the few _Curaga _stones he still possessed – the two remaining, he'd learned long ago, were specialty items created by Card Magician Joker and were therefore unique on the planet, infinitely more powerful than the Hi-Potions he'd been resorting to as of late and a lot less likely to shatter with rough handling, making them a highly desired commodity for one who went into battle as often as he did. A moment spent with his eyes closed and his focus on the aches and pains of his body turned his decision towards the negative – he'd save the precious stone for when it was truly necessary to use it.

He shoved the stone back into his pocket and rose from the sandy beach, dusting his rear free of sand as he did so. A few short strides carried him to his backpack, and in moments he was flipping through his recent calls on his phone to locate that of the man who'd given him the ride to the island he currently inhabited.

When the man arrived less than an hour later, Cloud granted him a smile and a nod as he swiftly boarded the boat. "Get what'cha needed, kid?" the man gruffly asked, arching one bushy white brow above inquisitive brown eyes.

"Sure did. How much do I owe you for the return trip?"

The man outright laughed. "Actually, I never expected you to survive. Never thought up a return price. What'd'ya got?"

Blinking, Cloud pointed to his collection of belongings. "Other than that stuff, the clothes on my back and the item I need, probably about a thousand fish fins from those fastitocalon things. I can part with as many of those as you'd like to take."

Scratching his chin, the elderly man nodded. "Those'll sell for a good gil. I'll take twenty of them for the return trip."

A sigh of relief escaped Cloud's lips – he'd not have to worry about paying off a debt he'd accrue if he'd had gil demanded of him. "Done," he readily agreed, hopping from the boat to collect a handful of fins that he'd left scattered near the beach. After only a few moments, he crawled onto a bench in the man's craft and handed over his payment.

It was a relatively short and completely eventless trip back to the mainland. Once they'd pulled into the cluttered marina of Dollet, Cloud assisted the boat's owner in tethering his vessel to the cleats of the pier, granted him a final wave and profession of thanks, then wandered down the road into the town he'd been coming to know.

Passing under the grand arch that crossed the road connecting the marina to the beachfront, Cloud sidestepped the pacing man who muttered continually about the million gil he was owed by the scurvy youths who'd apparently been responsible for the destruction of the quaint seaside city no more than two years ago. A mere moment was spent patting the head of the little girl counting down her numbers and granting a wink of a glowing blue eye to the boy who hid at the base of the stairs before he shoved his hands in his pants pockets and took some time to watch the waves crawl onto the sandy shore, water lapping at a beach still littered with brick and steel, with the remains of metallic monsters and refuse washed in after the enormous quakes that rocked the region. It was a sight similar to that he'd witnessed on the world's smallest continent, the peaceful community of Balamb just as quiet as the sun slithered into the west and its dying rays danced over the sparkling ocean.

Drawing a deep breath of pure sea air untainted by the pollution that plagued the atmosphere of the lands of his distant memories, Cloud turned his back on the sea and meandered further into town. Bypassing both the Spice restaurant and the old artist's shop, he made his way first to the Nautilus Shop across from the tavern to exchange the stray fish fins he'd gathered from the beach prior to departing the deserted, monster-infested landmass he'd spent his last few days on. After recharging his card with a few hundred gil, he made his way to his true destination – the bar.

Greeted by the tall, thin barkeep's stale smile, Cloud offered him a slight raise of a hand even as he chose a stool to occupy. "Evening," the man muttered, leaning away from the pair of gentlemen who leaned heavily against the bar already, drinks sweating in their hands and curses about the day's work flowing from steadily slackening lips. "What's your poison?"

Laying his card on the bar before him, Cloud sighed. "Beer. Balamb Draft if you've got it – whatever's comparable if you don't."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the barkeep lifted a stein from below the counter's top. "Balamb, eh?"

"Not from there. Just like the beer," Cloud stated, keeping his voice as bland as possible.

"Got'cha," the man grumbled as he began to fill the glass, tilting it to leave a fluffy golden head without robbing the vessel of its contents. "Sorry to say we don't carry it. Give you one of Dollet's specialties, though. Should be to your liking. I'd serve you some of our Esthar Gold if those two louts griping over there hadn't drunk my stores dry. Been a real popular brew since it came across the tracks a couple years ago."

Nodding once, Cloud pushed his rather generic, unmarked blue gilcard that bore nothing but his signature towards the barkeep in exchange for the offered glass while silently praying he wouldn't get overcharged for his drink.

World politics was a phenomenon Cloud was still getting used to.

His world of origin seemed so very simple in comparison – certainly there were different cultures and different peoples, but the relations between each were much more fluid and easy-going than they were on the world he was determined to accept as his permanent home. Where he hailed from, it was the world and Shin-Ra, the overarching company either benefactor or adversary depending on the individual location's measure of self-sustainability and independence.

Nothing he could think of could compare to the complexity of his new world – nations, fully developed with expansive peoples and vast territories, formed alliances and disparities with the rest of the nations of the world and no nation was excluded. Every land was rich in history, thick in culture, steeped in politics and shifting faithfulness to their neighbors. Cloud had originally thought that Balamb, affiliated with those SeeDs he'd made friends with and the Garden that was their base, was a 'good' land – his notions were quickly squelched with harsh reality.

Balamb was nothing but the homeport of the mobile Garden. It in of itself was seen by the world depending on its relations with those other nations – to Trabia it was inconsequential, to Galbadia it was a sleepy getaway and peaceful vacation spot, to Esthar it was an important trade partner for its vast sea-resources, to Timber it was a competitor for vital tourist income, and to Dollet it was so closely affiliated with its Garden that the two would not be separated in the national mind and therefore was seen as either good or evil depending on each individual's opinion. Those tiny towns that had begun to band together and claim themselves to be the risen nation of Centra knew nothing of Balamb other than its tie to the Garden, and thus were much the same as the ancient Dollet Kingdom.

The Garden itself, a source of neutrality in the world, was not always favorably looked upon as Cloud had quickly come to realize. Much as the reactors of Shin-Ra were looked upon as a necessity despite many people's reluctance to have them near, the Garden was a sought-after commodity that was looked upon with sour distrust by most of the world's nations. The fact that they owed allegiance to no one save themselves did not sit well with most of the world's peoples, along with the simple fact that the highest bidder in many scenarios won the vast power of Balamb's Garden – while most people assigned a morality to their nations' causes, the Garden stayed free of such ideals and so long as the conflict did not involve sorcery the organization followed instead the power of gil, coloring of it as 'just' in the eyes on some and 'wicked' in the hearts of many.

Cloud had swiftly discovered that the safest route for his personal safety and continued service in most establishments was to claim he was from nowhere of importance if the topic came up, and if pressed to profess that he was from one of the Northern Estharian desert communities that had been overrun in the fires that blazed through the sands a year ago, leaping from the nearby Grandidi Forest and chasing the rampaging hordes of monsters that ravaged the lands. While he personally had no eye-witness account of the scenario he wove for those who'd question him, he'd garnered enough knowledge of what it must have been like from a few of the locals he spent many hours speaking to while escorting children to Science Laboratory field-day trips in the desolate region. A few gory details about the bloody battles between the brave men of his now non-existent town, chocobos and enormous cockatrices and ochus driven from the forest's sanctity by hellish flames were typically all it took to garner him a look of pity, a pat on the back, a cessation of questions and sometimes a drink.

Taking a cautious sip of the beer he'd been served, Cloud nearly winced at the strong flavor that instantly assaulted his tongue. No, the local Dollet brew was nothing like the smooth and easy taste of the beer he'd gotten a taste for during his short stay in Balamb City.

Closing his eyes, he pondered what he'd do next, where he was to go, and how he was going to accomplish his goals. He knew he had enough curse spikes to receive the dark matter he required, and now he had a piece of rare adamantine. Taking another sip, trying not to focus on the fact that he could nearly chew the beer he was drinking, he grumbled to himself even as he fished in a pocket of his cargo pants for the precious piece of paper Spade had marked up while he was in Esthar.

A swift glance over it and he sighed as he stuffed it back into his pocket. "So damned close," he sighed.

"What's that?" the barkeep asked as he arched a brow and focused his attention back on Cloud, his task of refilling one of his other customer's steins from the fountain with 'Dollet Dark' completely uninterrupted by his divergence of focus.

"Nothing," Cloud replied quickly enough. "Just a shopping list."

"What, the miss at home has you fetching dinner?"

"Yeah. Doesn't expect me home for awhile, though."

A smirk turned the man's lips as he pushed the stein he held back to the customer who waited for it.

Taking another mouthful of beer, Cloud grimaced at both the flavor and his mental meanderings.

He essentially had four of the items he needed – Spade had broken his list down into what he'd require to refine what he sought, and he'd acquired most of it. A Gilgamesh card, an Alexander card, one hundred curse spikes and a piece of adamantine all rested in his backpack, the cards cautiously kept free of his deck to prevent him from accidentally losing them in a game. He was aware of what he'd need to do to finish gathering what he required for an aegis armlet – he was five barriers short of the fifty Spade had instructed him to gather. He needed to find another reliable nest of behemoths.

Where he was supposed to win one of the extremely rare player cards, though, was eluding him. He debated the wisdom of going back to the artist's house and challenging the little boy there once more, but swiftly decided against it – he'd already reaped from the boy's deck, and hadn't seen any of the sought-after player cards offered once.

He instinctively stiffened as he felt a presence approach him.

"Nice evening, isn't it?"

Turning slightly on his stool, Cloud arched a brow. "Uh… sure is."

A tilt of a pale chin let falls of golden blond hair cascade around delicate shoulders encased in soft blue chiffon. "So, drinking alone?"

"Yeah. And I prefer to keep it that way."

A huff of disbelief, a flush of cheeks, and a snort preceded a bitten, "Well, I-"

"Look, your makeup needs work, and your wig is crooked. I'd rather you just look like the man you are before you try and pick me up."

Completely aghast, the blond flushed brilliantly and gaped, his painted lips parted in disbelief and his mouth moving wordlessly before he turned sharply on a pointed high-heel and stormed away.

A brilliant laugh lit the room. "Boy, I haven't seen anyone be quite that blunt in ages! 'Least two years, I do say. I like you, kid."

Turning his head, Cloud arched a brow at the newest infiltrator in the bar.

Standing before the staircase that lead to the upper story of the modest building that housed the bar, an old man lifted a wrinkled hand and waved politely, his mouth displaying a toothy, lightly yellowed grin and his wily white hair with its near glow in the dim light of the establishment contrasting sharply with his tanned, creased face. "Come here when you're done with your drink, will you?"

Glancing down at his half-emptied mug, Cloud shrugged. "Sure," he replied, taking a bare moment to gather his belongings and abandon his less than satisfying drink.

As he neared the old man, he was greeted with a slap on a shoulder and a wry wink. "Name's Bert, kid."

"Cloud."

"Nice to meet you. If you want to escape unwanted attention and your done drinking what they've got to offer, c'mon upstairs. There's better company up there. You play cards?"

Recognizing that he'd be dragged into a card tournament at the very least, Cloud sighed and bowed his head. "Not overly well, but I do dabble."

"Ah, then you'll not want to be challenging the guy by the tables upstairs. He ain't ever lost! Only came close once, to the same kid that told off our local cross-dresser. Fortunately there're some other players up there tonight – you might stand to win a few games."

"Do tell," Cloud blandly stated, his carrying of the conversation more habitual than anything, his focus more on where he was being led and what escape routes he had if things were not as innocent as they seemed, if he was being hauled into an ambush for the items he carried in his rather large backpack, or if he had inadvertently stumbled across the bad-sides of an array of locals with steep anti-Balamb sentiments by his profession that he liked their beer.

He shambled without enthusiasm up the stairs after the old gentleman, then blinked as he stared at his new surroundings.

Indeed, he had simply been roped into a card tournament; nothing more sinister seemed to be in the works.

He was in a game room that was nestled cozily above the dark and dingy bar he'd been occupying, lavishly lit by dangling lamps and chocked full of pool and card tables. The constant buzz of conversation, lamentations and curses filled the area with a surprisingly loud din as people sat on plush red-topped stools and focused on the game boards spread throughout the room, occupying nearly every free surface that could house one.

Cloud nearly jumped as old Bert slapped him solidly on the shoulder and pointed across his field of vision. "That's the one. You'll want to stay away from that table, regardless of what you see in play. He doesn't lose. So if he asks you if you're game, make sure you tell him you're not."

"Thanks for the tip," Cloud muttered, watching as everyone around the table occupied by the dark-haired card master cheered and whooped, leaving the auburn-haired teenager that had dared to raise a challenge to the older man with his head bowed and his teeth grit as his shoulders were rained on with pats of consolation.

His eyes quickly roving the tables, Cloud felt his lips turn with a slight smile as he mentally poured over his list of required items. One of those items he was still missing as a card – what better place to discover the possible whereabouts of a rare card than a card tournament, even if it was a small one in a relatively tired town? "You know… thanks for bringing me up here, Bert. Maybe I will partake in a few games and see what they've got to offer."

Granting him a wink, the old man with his wild hair laughed. "Nah, thank you for the entertainment downstairs. As said, ain't seen anyone stand up to that guy in near two years – gets me laughing every time."

"Two years… wasn't that the time Dollet had to be rebuilt the first time?" Cloud innocently asked.

"Sure was! Now me, I'm not one to blame the guys who drew the robot here – I blame those damned Galbie soldiers that activated it in the first place." His voice dropping, he snorted softly. "Too many around these parts are quick to blame SeeD for all that's been bad in this kingdom. Sure, they were running from the sentry robot and lead it right through town, but it was the only way for them to get to their evacuation point. And yeah, they stirred up a bunch of trouble with their failed assassination attempt on the Sorceress in Deling, right out in the open during her commissioning ceremony. And according to some, it was one of them that was responsible for the earthquakes that almost leveled the lands a year ago. Plus the tether between the Gardens got Galbadia a bunch of really powerful soldiers over the years between the first and second Sorceress Wars, most've their most talented coming from Balamb – and that army is what nearly wiped Dollet off the face of the world."

Arching a brow, Cloud frowned. "Huh. I never knew about that."

"Been under a rock or something, boy?" Bert asked, quirking a brow.

"Let's just say I never paid much attention in school," Cloud said, adopting as sheepish of a grin as he could manage. "Plus where I grew up, lessons on how to work the land, water management and how to make the most of your crops were more important than world politics or history."

A sharp laugh escaped the old man. "Ah, never took you for a farm boy."

"Recent profession change," Cloud professed readily enough.

"Well then, so you know, the Gardens do in fact work together. And against each other. Kind of strange that way. They're all neutral, but they're all for sale. Galbadia's Garden tends to side with its parent nation, though, due to the high financial backing they get from it. So when the Sorceress took over Deling, G-Garden was hers for the taking. Same with its army – she incorporated it with the nation's standing forces. Made them damned near unstoppable. Fortunately, B-Garden proved to be a hell of a force to be reckoned with. Surprising, considering how small it is. Guess it was due to that demon Commander of theirs."

Cloud nearly scoffed, the mental image of Balamb's previous Commander popping unwarranted into his head as a fire-breathing demonic entity complete with leathery wings and horns. "Demon Commander, huh?"

Grinning widely, Bert nodded. "Nicest guy you ever met. A bit cold on the outside, but a sweet kid. Asked our local problem man if he was really a woman to his face, loud enough for the whole bar to hear. Then meandered up here and very nearly won against our champion. Never will forget that guy. Shocked the bejeezus out of me when I found out he was leading that Garden! Guess that's why I can't hate Balamb's Garden as much as most others around here. Nice kid like that can't be all bad. And if their leader's not all bad, then what all's happened to Dollet can't all be SeeD's fault. Gotta be more complex than all that. Fact is, people need a scapegoat – something other than themselves to blame – and SeeD is an easy one to peg, seeing as how they're truly neutral and can be bought out by just about anyone."

"But why would Dollet be at fault for anything?"

A sneer lit the man's lips. "Maybe if our army wasn't caught with their pants down, we wouldn't have needed to pay for SeeD to come here and defend us in the first place two years ago. Or maybe at the end of the first Sorceress War, we could've sided with Galbadia instead of standing apart from the conflict when Esthar was actively demolishing them – we would've had them as allies instead of holding them at arm's length like we did over the last near twenty years. You see what I'm sayin', boy?"

Holding his head, scratching lamely at his scalp, Cloud shrugged. "I think so. But as said, world politics is a bit above and beyond me."

A sharp laugh escaped Bert as he smacked Cloud's shoulder again. "I've chewed your ear long enough, don't'cha think? Go have fun. Thanks for entertaining an old man and listening to him ramble."

"No problem," Cloud readily replied as he dragged his worldly belongings towards a relatively unoccupied corner far from both the staircase and the arch that lead to a walkway that spanned the street outside. Dropping his duffle bag, backpack and sword off, he wandered to the table of the champion and decided to simply watch.

His eyes nearly rolled out of his head as he saw the cards laid down on the table. "Is that-" he gasped in shock.

"Yeah," a brunette girl at his side breathed. "The Irvine card. Oh, how I wish I could win it!"

"'The'?" Cloud inquired, arching a brow.

"Don't you know? Only two of each player card exists in the world. Word has it that the original artist behind Triple Triad had intended to only release one of each player card to the public, but one person got every card he released and that deck was removed from circulation a year ago, so the old man released another set. There's actually a chance to win these again!"

"And there wasn't before?"

"Dude, the guy who had that deck was invincible."

Cloud arched a brow as he noticed a slight tick of the card-master's left eyebrow. "I see. As invincible as Dollet's master?"

"Just about," the girl confided. "I don't know if they ever played each other, though, so no telling who's better,"

Clamming up, Cloud watched the rest of the game. After the jet-haired man predictably won against his opponent's lesser hand, he joined the crowd in cheering the victory.

"You game?"

Cloud started then met eyes with the man who addressed him. Holding up his hands defensively, he shook his head. "No, I'm just here to watch. My deck's not good enough to go against a deck with player cards."

"Only got one in it."

Chewing on his lip, Cloud frowned. "So you don't have the one I'm looking for, anyway."

"You're looking for a player card?" the man asked.

Shrugging casually, Cloud smirked. "Who isn't?"

"Seem awful picky, though. Most would settle for any player card they can get their hands on."

Cloud scowled as his mind cursed internally. "Well…"

"Come talk to me," the man blandly stated as he rose from his table and shuffled through the crowd.

Gulping quietly, wondering just what he'd gotten himself into, Cloud meekly followed the man as he pressed through the crowd of gamers and crossed the arching bridge that spanned the street.

Stepping into the dark, circular room at the other end of that bridge, Cloud blinked rapidly to get his eyes accustomed to the sharp change in lighting before casting what he prayed was a casual glance at his new surroundings.

As the jet-haired card player eased himself into a plush seat behind a heavy oak desk, Cloud took in the piles of magazines and dingy posters hanging on the walls, everything with its light film of dust adding to the rather dismal atmosphere of the apparent office. Letting his gaze rove across those magazines, absorbing the titles _Timber Maniacs_ and _Girl Next Door_, he finally regarded the man who had invited him.

He blinked as he met with a startled stare. "Yes?"

"Your eyes…"

"Side effect. I used to live in an area close to a lot of energy springs. Got SeeDs roving there all the time to take magic from the earth."

The man frowned slightly before shrugging off any further comments, apparently accepting Cloud's off-the-cuff explanation or simply not caring enough to pry further about the unnatural glow of mako that still glistened through darkness. "So you said you're after a particular player card? Which one?"

"Why do you ask?" Cloud replied, his voice soft and cautious.

"Because I know the locations of most of the player cards in the world. I keep tabs on where they've gone through the first person to have ever beaten me – that way if they ever pass through Dollet, I know who to challenge to complete my deck. She keeps me up to date as part of our deal; I maintain my reputation as undefeated and get information, she gets free room and board, free meals and free drinks throughout this town via my connections whenever she decides to drop by."

"Sounds like quite the lucrative deal."

A snort escaped the man. "Indeed. So which card?"

"The Squall card," Cloud stated blandly. "No questions as to why."

Arching a brow, the card-master frowned. "That kid's card, huh?"

"You met him too?"

A wry smile wrinkled the corners of the man's mouth. "Only other person to defeat me. Took every Elnoyle card I had. He was right on par with the Queen of Cards herself." A sigh escaped his lips and his eyes were distant as he contemplated whatever reflections were racing through his mind while Cloud patiently waited for him to come back to reality. With a blink to clear the glaze from his vision, the older man shook his head. "You're not going to find that card in Dollet. You probably won't have the chance to win it. Even if you find the man who holds it, word from my contact is that the guy who has it doesn't play it."

His shoulders slumping, Cloud scowled. "Damn it. You've got to be kidding me!"

"Hell, she doesn't even have his name. Just knows that it's a member of SeeD."

Instantly Cloud felt his stomach tighten. "A member of SeeD… then that means…"

"I'd get in contact with their Card Club if I were you, kid."

"That's what I was thinking. So, what do I owe you for the information?"

"A game."

Cloud's frame sagged in disbelief. "Rules?"

"We'll keep it fair. What do you know?"

"I've played in Dollet, Esthar and Balamb."

A smirk touched the man's lips and eyes. "Then you've been exposed to every rule in the book. What say you to Random, Elemental and Plus with Trade Rule Difference?"

Scowling sharply, Cloud hung his head. "Can we keep it to just Random?"

"Random and Plus. I'll drop to Trade Rule One."

"Fine."

After dutifully handing over the last Malboro card he had in his deck, Cloud shoved the rest of his cards back into the pocket he'd assigned to them in his pants and wandered out of the dingy office, curses silently dribbling from his lips and anger glowing in his eyes. "One of my better cards, too. Damn him."

Seconds later, he was profusely apologizing, his consternation over losing his final Malboro card so disrupting his focus that he had outright run into another person on the thin bridge spanning the distance between the upper gaming floor of the bar and the manager's office across the way.

"Ack! A moment?" the girl he'd barreled into squeaked even as she scrambled for the cell phone she'd dropped when Cloud had collided with her.

"Sorry," he muttered as he stooped as well, narrowly avoiding banging their heads together as he retrieved her phone. He paused, his apologies grinding to a sudden halt, as he noticed the number of the recipient of her call.

"Balamb Garden…?" he whispered even as the girl brightly squeaked her thanks and snatched the phone from his hands.

Straightening his frame, Cloud regarded the young woman with slightly narrowed eyes.

She was short and youthful in appearance, long brown hair gathered in a loose ponytail that splayed across her back and over her shoulder. A bright pink turtleneck hugged her slender upper body, bulging slightly around her small breasts, and complimenting her black miniskirt and leather thigh-high boots with their tall stiletto heels. A brilliant pink, wide leather belt circled her waist, held in place by a thick gold buckle whose coloration was echoed in long dangling earrings and a simple chain looped around her neck.

Something about her was nibbling at the back of Cloud's mind – she looked familiar.

"Got it. We can be there in five days. Anyone meeting us? Alright," she blathered into her phone, her pink-painted lips turning in a sharp frown as she terminated her call and hung her flip-phone on the chain around her neck. Finally looking at Cloud, her chocolate eyes bright, she blinked, stared, blinked again and finally squealed. "Cloud!"

"Eh?" he brightly replied, his face riddled with confusion.

"Don't you recognize me? It's me, Diamond! I met you last year."

That feeling of recognition burst into full-fledged reality. "Diamond?" he all but gasped. "Sorry! Didn't recognize you without your-"

He was instantly interrupted by a hand smothering his lips. "Hey hey, watch it now buddy," she said with a coy grin even as she dragged his head down by squeezing his cheeks and pulling him towards her lips. Whispering, she mouthed, "haven't you noticed the anti-SeeD sentiment around here? Have to be careful."

"Sorry," he sheepishly replied, his voice nearly as quiet as hers. "Just… you know how it was when we last met."

She smiled brightly as she released him and nodded. "Sure do!"

Indeed, when last they'd met, Cloud had been held prisoner onboard Balamb Garden, enclosed in a room in the Medical Ward along with his charge after the explosive battle with the wild Guardian Force Eden had led to the Sorcerer's power being unleashed. The girl referred to as Diamond had been one of his sets of guards, accompanied by her partner in both duty and in name. It was the Diamond twins who'd let Cloud know of the true purpose of Garden and the derisive split that had fractured Balamb's forces, many professing loyalty to the Garden's ideals, many more retaining loyalty to the fallen Commander even once he'd been stripped of his rank and ousted from the Sorcery-destroying establishment.

"So, what're you doing here, of all places?" the woman brightly inquired.

"Just picking up stuff for an employer," Cloud replied with an easy shrug. "Figured I'd get a beer and play some cards before moving on."

"Oh ho? Any luck in your task?"

"Some."

"What'cha looking for next?" she asked as she slid along his side and looped her arm through his, leading him back towards the warmth of the game room and its throng of people.

"Well, I need a card and some barriers," Cloud nearly stammered, slightly discomforted by her proximity and the familiarity of her grip.

"Which card?" Diamond questioned, blatantly ignoring Cloud's barely suppressed urge to squirm from her grip.

"Squall's."

Frowning, Diamond sighed. "Can't help you there. No one in the Card Club has that one. It's been around, sure, but it's never put into play – well, not since the guy who has it won it from Jack."

"Jack…?"

"One of our number you never got to meet," she said with a shrug. "He's still in Balamb City. I'd call him, but with time zones being what they are, he's probably asleep by now. He's working the day shift at the Town-Gate Garage."

Arching a brow, Cloud sat down beside her as she released him and sat herself before a board.

"He left the organization after last year's events. Still plays a wicked game of cards, though," she said with a smirk even as she lifted her deck from a small pouch dangling from her pink belt and began to negotiate rules with her challenger.

Watching her play, Cloud bit his lip and worried it between his teeth. It seemed that for every step forward he made in his task, the final item in his quest kept moving further and further away. "Well… thanks for the information, at least," he mumbled as she whooped in victory, sweeping the entire hand of her opponent off the table and shuffling his cards in with her own.

"Tell you what. Play with us, and depending on the result we'll help you with the other thing you need."

Cloud blinked rapidly. Then he stared.

He'd not noticed the other young woman, slightly shorter than the first Diamond and clothed in aquamarine blues and dark browns instead of bright pinks and deep blacks, appear at the table until she spoke. "Diamond…?" he stated.

Granting him a grin, the other lady with her shorter brown hair curling towards her chin nodded. "Two games, two opponents. You win both times, we'll help you out. I heard you tell my partner that you need barriers, right?"

"Win against us, and we'll take you to a nest of behemoths," the pink-clad Diamond said with a wink.

"You're on."

_-to be continued-_

AN: Yeah, so new way of playing with the initial perspective. Still going to keep it first person much as it was in this story's prequel, but do expect the ridiculously short length of the first segment to continue. After all, it's just a more or less transmitted feeling or cluster of thoughts. :)

If you were at all confused, might I please suggest that you read "Shadow of the Day," the first story in this little developing arc? "Tonight, Tonight" is a direct sequel of that story. Once you've poured through it, everything should more or less make sense.

Sorry that this chapter was kind of long-winded and drawn out without much action (aka: boring as hell and dull as dirt), but hey! Setting's got to be set, you know. :) There was a lot of lost time to cover before really delving into the story. It should flow much more smoothly with less reflections from this point on.

I'll be replying to all reviews via that spiffy individual review reply feature that ff . net has. If it's anonymous, I might tag on a reply at the end of the following chapter. Dunno – depends on how quickly I'm getting stuff up. :P

Anyway, hope you enjoy the ride!


	2. Leaving a Piece of Youth

Sorry about that last chapter's dryness, but it had to explain the passage of a full year since SotD, what Cloud was doing when he was derping around for all that time, remind us all that this does in fact take place in FFVIII… and I had a blast mucking around in Dollet during my most recent game, so I wanted to bring that bar to life in the fic. :P

So now it's back to tromping about with Cloud Strife on his infinite quest to nowhere! Well, to somewhere, actually. But I'm rambling. Let's get into some damned action already, you say? Well, here we are, I say! This chapter has action! So let's move on with the plot, burgeoning and tiny as it is.

Disclaimer: I in no way own any portion of the Final Fantasy franchise except the spiffy stuff I've purchased over the years and the Squall plushie that accompanies me on deployment for snuggling purposes. Nor do I own any song by the Smashing Pumpkins, especially not 'Tonight, Tonight' which provides not only the lyrics that became chapter titles for this story but also inspiration for this fic. Please don't sue – I'm simply an E6 in the Navy, and therefore I have no money. Ha.

_-BEGIN FIC-_

Chapter 2  
Leaving a Piece of Youth

_I have seen the world beyond Time, when it first whirls out of darkness and forms from nothing, when it is consumed by Eden and returns to nothing. I have seen how short and insignificant my own life is in the span of Time, in the walk of Sorcery, in the line of those who threaten and bolster humanity. I should feel as a child, tiny and afraid and quivering in terror from the inevitability of the Future and the shadows of the horrid Past buried by the weight of the Present._

_But I do not. I feel old and lonely, tired and cold, trapped and unable to do anything. I watch much as the ancients of society do, knowing how ineffectual everything is, dismal insight buried in my heart even as I silently cheer for those who fight on in their endeavors, encouraging them to continue lest they lose the precious sensation of being alive to the grim reality that all is for naught._

_I watch the march of eternity from the sanctity of my dreams and know the futility of it all. I watch the exertions of men met by the crushing weight of history, their efforts smothered and useless in the end. And as I watch, I feel my innocence melt away; my hopes, my desires, my childish longings to have a positive impact on this world with the might of Sorcery are in fact useless in the scope of Time._

… _I don't want to watch anymore. But no matter what I wish, watching is all I can do._

_All I can do in each moment of this Present is leave a piece of youth._

* * *

Cloud blearily opened his eyes, the oppressive sensation of weariness seeping away as he rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," a bright and overly chipper voice greeted.

"Thought you were going to sleep the day away," its twin stated with a hidden laugh.

Groaning, Cloud ran his hand over his face and snorted. "Well, it's a long trip. And better to be asleep than to put up with the rocking of the boat."

Granting one another identical laughs and smiles, the Diamond twins turned their attention from Cloud to afford him some privacy. The girl with her shorter hair, wearing the simple utilitarian dress of denim shorts and a plain white tank top accompanied by chunky sneakers and a worn brown leather belt holding a saber to her side, crawled up the small ladder at the forefront of the main deck and strolled to the point of the bow to seat herself on the cushions to watch the water race by. The girl with her ponytail stretched one arm over her head, bending her hand to scratch her neck even as she kept one hand on the wheel of the boat, her short pink dress fluttering around her lithe body and bunched under her similar belt with identical saber in the wind caused by their rapid transit, her bare toes curling against the deck just outside of the space Cloud occupied. Her bright chunky plastic sandals rolled around under the aft bench of the craft.

Shaking his head sharply to clear the final remnants of sleep from his brain, the blond warrior groaned as he hefted himself to his feet and immediately felt the mild rocking of the boat as it roared over the waves. Bravely battling away a sudden waft of nausea, he pinched his eyes shut and allowed himself to fall back onto his bottom on the bench he'd been sleeping on.

He'd won his games in Dollet, much to his surprise. Invoking the Random rule had saved his skin, keeping the powerful cards both Diamonds possessed out of their hands. As a result, they'd kept to their promise to assist him and were dragging him to their next destination.

Only five days had passed since they'd met in the tired capital city of the faded kingdom. Since winning against the skilled girls thanks to a stroke of wondrous luck and highly numbered cards, they had gathered him into their fold, revealed that they were going to a research center to see if they could make contact with an archeologist Galbadia's Vinzer University had lost contact with, and they'd be heading immediately to Deling to meet up with an individual who'd get them what they needed to get to their destination.

When Cloud had asked why they didn't use their dragon-shaped airship, the shorter-haired Diamond simply shrugged and informed him that the _Ragnarok _wasn't cheap – the University that was paying for the expedition hadn't agreed to pay the additional fee to sortie the massive vessel, requiring the SeeDs hired to find another means to reach their destination. And with Garden unavailable, the Swordfish speedboats it carried were similarly out of reach. Commercial flights to the location were completely unavailable – the exact location of the research center was apparently a closely guarded SeeD secret. The archeologist in question had hired a surveillance crew and a boat from Winhill to search for ancient sea ruins using a new sonar mapping system he'd devised with the Engineering Department at the University, and had stumbled across the site by accident.

The boat crew had been located – their vessel had swamped and sunk in heavy storm waves, the vast majority of their men drowning with their maps and recorders. Two survivors had been pulled from the water by the White SeeD ship that regularly appeared and disappeared into the thick fogs that hugged the Centra coastline; they spoke of the man who'd contracted them, how he'd stayed on the wreckage they'd stumbled across and refused to leave when they informed him that they were low on supplies and preparing to head back, how they'd abandoned him to the odd, remote area with a promise to return once they'd restocked their food and water tanks and how now that return was impossible as everything they'd had that could lead them back to the strange discovery was lost to the depths of the ocean.

Once the plight of the Winhill crew had been reported, the University had immediately contracted SeeD for a rescue mission. However, with their limited willingness to pay, all they had managed to purchase was the services of the Diamond twins, and that was due mainly to the fact that they were already on the Galbadia continent, as close to the research center in question as one can possibly get.

So Cloud had been hauled to a marina outside of Deling's sprawling suburbs less than two days after meeting the girls, then thrown into an closed-bow wave-skimmer not more than forty feet in length that featured one bed in its enclosed cabin, a port-a-potty and a propane single-burner grill with a pot for cooking. Only an hour of preparation saw the boat stuffed from keel to deck with food and fresh water and brimming with fuel canisters. The girls had promised the blond that it should be enough to get them to the site – getting back was something they'd worry about when they found their archeologist.

"Why a boat?" he grumbled to the air.

"Because it's all they had available right off the bat, otherwise we would have gone with a helicopter or a light plane. You know that," the pink-clad Diamond girl stated with a smirk, not bothering to turn and address the moping blond directly.

"I know that. Rhetorical question," he grunted.

"Never thought you'd be the kind of guy to get sea sick, Cloud. You didn't have any problems on Garden."

"It was stable. This is not."

As she sniggered under her breath and returned to her full attention to driving through the rough choppy waves, Cloud moaned and rubbed his forehead. He'd always suffered from bouts of motion sickness. Locomotives made him ill, guaranteeing he'd always buy an expensive ticket to get himself a drawing room to facilitate lying down and attempting to sleep through the worst of it. Small airships made him nauseous – even large airships left him queasy and unsteady; his times on both the _Highwind_ and the _Rapture_ were less than enjoyable in even his fondest memories, though he liked to think that on the Estharian ship no one picked up on the fact that he wanted to throw himself on the floor and die while the vessel was launching and landing. And ships….

Ships were simply a whole different level of pain in Cloud's book. When he'd crossed the waters to go to Costa del Sol, he'd secretly emptied his stomach before anyone could find him, then drowned his wretchedness with thoughts of the mission he was on, alert monitoring of his surroundings, and the terrifying sight of his friend Barrett in a sailor suit. He'd also developed the technique of pinching his earring as tightly as he could to use the sharp sensation of pain to drive his brain to focus on something other than the roiling of his abused stomach. During his time on the small submarine his party had managed to acquire, he'd fortunately stocked up on medication designed specifically for those who suffered like him, swearing that someday he'd find the manufacturer and thank them personally.

"Dramamine?"

"Please," Cloud replied weakly.

His reflexes functioned without him focusing at all on his surroundings – a soft flicker of fire along his arm, and his hand moved without his conscious thoughts to catch the tiny tube that was flying towards his head. Looking vaguely at what he'd caught, he uncapped it and immediately shook a pill from the tube. Recapping it after swallowing his treasure, he scowled. "Only a couple left."

"No worries; we've got spares."

"Why do you two carry it? You're having no problems."

"We always keep some on hand in case we have clients who get motion sick. After we spent the better part of an evening cleaning out a Swordfish because our rescued hostage yarfed all over it, we learned our lesson."

"That's for certain!" the other Diamond twin blurted from the forward end of the speeding boat.

"Thanks for the info," Cloud grunted as he laid back and waited for relief to override the sloshing of his empty stomach.

For three days they'd been racing non-stop over the waters, the Diamond girls taking brief naps and relieving one another at the wheel while Cloud valiantly did battle with his digestive track.

"There it is!" the denim-clad Diamond burst from the front of the boat.

Throwing open the cabin's overhead window to allow himself to stand upright, his seasickness forgotten by sudden curiosity and the flare of what mako still stirred his in blood boiling to life to prepare him for battle, he let his gaze fall alongside of the brunette girl's.

"What the hell?" he breathed, his eyes widening and his jaw falling slack.

Rising from the sea and surrounded by rusted cranes that jutted at awkward angles from the dark blue waves rose an elevated platform that'd seen better days. Dilapidated and decaying, crumbling concrete sat perched atop of huge steel pillars that thrust into the ocean. Waves of green seaweed crept along steel pylons, snaking like ivy through man-made rock and bramble to crawl up a huge, tipping tower of gray iron, spiked and gnarled, its purpose left in the forgotten past. As the waves crashed and simmered, Cloud finally saw the surrounding ruins, platforms much like the one that still stood atop its supports that had given in to time and entropy to kiss the fathomless waters, concrete blocks jutting from the endless blue fields bathed in the froth of broken ripples.

"The Deep Sea Research Center. It got lost almost twenty years ago, I think."

"How'd you guys manage to find it?"

A giggle accompanied a coy wink. "Well, we can thank our last Commander for locating this thing again. Miss Trepe likes to claim that he was delaying the inevitable, trying to stay away from responsibility so he could complete his Triple Triad deck by playing everyone who'd challenge him across the planet. They just happened to fly overhead on the _Ragnarok _after they'd found Jumbo Cactaur on an island by Centra's eastern seaboard. Landed, fought and beat Bahamut to gain his loyalty, decided to go in again and discovered what lay at the bottom. Rumor is that's where the Commander found Eden resting in the mind of an ancient monstrous weapon."

An involuntary shudder roared through Cloud's frame at the mentioning of the Guardian Force he'd faced off with a year ago. "That's where she is…?"

"Was. Who knows where she is now?" Diamond readily chirped. "If she's there again, maybe we can reclaim her!"

"Better to let her lie. Squall's journal didn't make joining with Eden sound pleasant. Plus given what she said when she sank into the sea, I don't think she's to be trifled with right now."

The girl chewed her lip before turning her gaze back to the encroaching sight of the Deep Sea Research Center. "Huh. I kind of get the feeling that Diablos would agree with you."

"Diablos?"

"My Guardian Force. He and I are getting to work together right now. Diamond-" she nodded towards the driver of the boat, "has Siren with her."

As the names fell on his ears and he shrugged without recognition, he sighed and crawled out onto the bow to sit alongside of the denim-clad Diamond. "Doesn't it bother you? Having a creature in your head?"

"Nah. He and I get along well. And with Garden's regulations over GFs these days, it's not like we'll be partnered long enough for him to do irreversible damage to my brain. Sure, back in the old days we didn't know that they strip your memories and can drive you literally crazy, and SeeDs would keep them in their skulls for so long they became like automatons, but that was then. We're not allowed to have a whole menagerie anymore either – not since one of our own nearly slaughtered everyone he was with when one of his GFs got tired of the racket and decided that everything needed to be still. Now SeeDs are limited to one, and only for missions. Everything comes back quick that way once you drop your junctions. And GFs only go to those people who're still attached to Balamb – the moment you transfer, no more GFs for you. Kind of makes me sad – Diablos is such a sweety. It's going to be lonely not having him wax philosophically during the stagnant hours when we transfer out next year."

Shaking his head, Cloud's lips remained twisted in a frown. "I don't think I'd like it much."

"Good thing you're not a SeeD."

"Yeah. I don't need more voices in my head."

"Squall's enough for you?"

A little shrug preceded the break in his frown and the emergence of a shy smile. "Yeah."

The boat slowed and turned as they narrowly avoided the outcropping of collapsed platform, swinging deftly alongside the raised concrete land that still stood mostly level. Looking up at the foreboding site, his ears nearly ringing in the absolute quiet of the site, Cloud frowned. "Not even any gulls. Eerie."

"But this is where our target apparently is. We've got to check, at the very least. And from what SeeD records hold, we should be able to get the barriers you need here," the dress-wearing Diamond proclaimed as she killed the boat's ignition and dug through a side compartment for rope to tether their vessel in place.

"Speaking of your target, got enough fuel to get him back to Galbadia?"

The girl laughed outright. "Hell no. We'll have to figure something else out. But let's not worry about that now, neh? Help me get this boat tied down before you change and grab your sword."

"Right."

The tasks mentioned by Diamond were swiftly completed. The climb to the top of the platform was infinitely more time consuming.

His duffle bag left safely in the boat along with his backpack that was stuffed with his dirty laundry, his final fresh black tank top, black cargo pants and boxer shorts on his body, his feet back into the socks and motorcycle boots they'd been free of for the last three days and his shoulder carrying the weight of Caladbolg, Cloud scrambled onto the top of the platform that sat in clear defiance of the ocean's power atop its brittle and rusting pylons.

"So how many barriers do you need?" the denim-clad Diamond asked as she hauled herself onto the platform next to Cloud before she turned to haul her twin up to stand with them.

"Five. I have forty-five in my backpack on the boat."

"Good! Then let's get our tasks done, neh?" Diamond professed.

Turning away from the sprawl of the ocean, Cloud stared instead across the platform that stretched before them.

The large tilted tower was more rust than iron now that he was close to it, the light white powder of salt creeping up its massive walls. Even at its highest tip it was encrusted with filth, a dirty spire of man's ingenuity stretching for the heavens from the sea, erupting from the rather less impressive platform that served as its apparent base. The vast majority of the platform was barren and clear; the remains of flaking paint marked what Cloud could only assume had once been a landing pad for helicopters or similar machines. The walkway that ran from that pad was buckled and cracked, its metal handrails rusted and warped with time and wear. Thick green seaweed clung tenaciously to the concrete, sprouting much as dandelions from sidewalks on land, coloring the platform a sickly green and clashing with the powdery white of the material it was constructed of. Only one area was free of the green coating – the far end of the landing pad, which was blackened; Cloud could only assume that the massive engines of the _Ragnarok_ had left it scarred and barren.

Off to their right, at the end of that lumpy and uneven walkway that raced from the landing pad, was a doorway. Cloud started as he realized what he was looking at – it was an emergency access door, surrounded in the yellow and black hash marks that call for all in the world to assign the word 'caution' to whatever they contain. "We're on top of a building, aren't we? Those aren't pylons. They're the support beams for the room."

"You know, I think you're right," the Diamond in pink mouthed behind him.

"Give me a moment," her twin chirped. "Let me see if our archeologist is up here."

Shrugging, Cloud meandered towards the door. They were all within easy sight of one another – there was no risk of getting lost. "Have fun," he called back even as he stuck his head through the doorway.

The door to the access was off its hinges and had fallen on the ground long ago, the thick coat of dust and salt acclamations of its time removed from service. Dirty tile floor stretched into darkness, dapples of light filtering through massive holes in the ceiling. With the exception of crumbling walls and drooping tiled floor, there wasn't much to see.

Taking one step inside, Cloud blinked as he found himself staring at an enormous hole in the ground. What he had taken for a rumpled and collapsing rear wall was nothing of the sort – rather, it was a cluster of twisted, dead roots of some collapsed plant, its stem or trunk having rotted and vanished into the sea long ago.

He heard the thunks of thick plastic sandals and sneaker soles approach. "What's in here?" the Diamond in denim asked.

"You know… I think if we shimmy out on that bit of floor, we can reach the roots. It looks like they go down," Cloud observed.

Looking at one another, the girls shrugged. "He might have gone down. Not enough evidence topside to suggest he stayed up here," one said to the other.

Slowly and carefully, Cloud all but tiptoed out onto the small outcropping of rusting steel and desiccated tile.

He wasn't worried about himself – he still had enough strength, agility and mako to easily make the jump from the doorway to the roots and back again. However, if he collapsed the flooring, the girls might not be able to follow him; they might even be injured if they were to fall in the collapse. With the poor lighting, he couldn't tell how deep the hole in the floor truly was.

As he crawled onto the roots and began to shimmy down, he heard the twins follow suit. Glancing up, he tried not to yelp.

His cheeks burned as he all but smashed his face into the dry roots before him and crawled downward, the image of bright flower-print thong panties burned into his pupils.

Finding steel floor with his feet, he quickly stepped away from the organic ladder and tried to ignore the girls as they alighted behind him, the Diamond in her short pink dress patting her hands together and giving a soft whistle as she looked around while her sister began to rove once more for clues concerning the whereabouts of their missing target.

Swift tuna swam by outside of enormous thick windows that ran the circumference of the room, passing with flashes of silver against the sunlit blue of the ocean's waters and the distant shadowy shapes that were the undersides of the neighboring support structures the Diamond in pink had deftly steered their boat around on their approach. The hot and humid circular room showed significantly less rust along its walls than any of the metal just up the ladder the roots created. By those roots, seeping from the junction between them and the steel floor, a soft plume of purple light swirled and danced.

The twins approached it, the short haired girl in denim professing that she needed some _Dispels_ before clasping her hands before her chest. The purple fountain of dancing light erupted in a flash, its coloration seeping into a stagnant gray and its dance becoming less lively even as the brilliant light it had all but exploded into seeped into the young woman's body.

Rubbing his eyes to clear them of spots from having watched her draw, Cloud looked around the rest of the room. "Huh. That's why it's so humid down here," he idly commented as he wiped sweat from his brow.

"I can't believe everything's still active down here. For steam leaks to keep going for over two years is impressive," Diamond professed as she slid to Cloud's side, her pink sandals significantly more quiet than usual as she stepped lightly, almost reverently in the relative quiet that was punctuated only by the creaking of the ruined Research Center and the hiss of steam.

Steam plumes poured from piping overhead and from around the steel wall that made up the center of the circular room. It billowed around the roots of the dead plant that they'd used to climb down from the room above and fogged the panes of glass that granted their magnificent view of the ocean beyond with its flashy fish.

It also masked the silent approach of the bomb until it was nearly on top of them.

Instinct moved him – sensing something at his back, Cloud turned sharply, his left arm dropping Caladbolg's sheath from his back to his side and his right hand finding its hilt in one natural motion. His sword hissed free of its casing and slashed, a brilliant arc of blue in the faint light that filtered through the ocean's waves and the thick windows as he swung hard.

The Diamond girls instantly flanked him as the fiery bomb recoiled from the powerful hit, rocking in the air with a hideous snarl and flares of angry fire spurting from its form.

Another bomb seeped from the shadows that played behind the central pillar, greeting the party with a hastily flung _Fire_ spell.

As the Diamond in denim snarled and shielded her face with her arm, licks of flame dancing over her thin white tank top and her short hair, her twin charged with a roar at their newest attacker, her saber sliding free of its holster and colliding with the bomb with a sharp metallic 'ping.' It shuddered and shook, its sharp fanged mouth clenched shut and its eyes burning with rage.

Cloud swiftly swung again at the first bomb to have approached, sinking Caladbolg easily into its mass. Its mouth opened with a roar that dissolved into a hiss and a splatter as its form was ripped asunder, the bright blue notched length of Cloud's greatsword making short work of the beast.

The second bomb swelled and roared, bathing its first targeted Diamond in mystic _Fire_ once again.

Cloud reeled as he spotted a third of the monstrous bombs sliding from behind the pillar, opting to head in a direction opposite that of its predecessors. It immediately bathed him in a _Fire_ spell.

Cursing, Cloud ignored the bite of fire that danced over his skin and made his clothing smolder, choosing to charge not for the monster but for the last feature he'd noticed in the room – a plate in the floor that was slid back, revealing stairs descending to a deeper level. "This way!" he shouted in the general direction of the Diamond girls even as he ducked under the metal flooring and held his sword before him.

The girl in her pink dress immediately flung herself after Cloud, nearly tumbling down the stairs.

The other Diamond roared as she wrenched her saber free of its holster and stepped forward, lunging deftly at her opponent. The bomb was assaulted by a hail of blows, each coming more rapid than the last, each shallow and precise, each targeting what would be vital pressure points on a human body. As the monster reeled under the rapid assault, the girl spun on her heel, drawing her saber around her lithe body and screamed as she plunged it with every ounce of her strength straight through the beast – the force of her strike blew every lick of flame off of the massive glob that was the true body of the bomb, its rapid hit sweeping the air straight away from where she hit. Wrenching her weapon free, she dashed after her twin and Cloud, managing the stairs with more grace than her partner.

Cloud grit his teeth as he fought the metal plate, forcing it to grind against gears, the insistent pull of machinery and rust to being to close.

He paused as the bomb that had emerged simply spun in a circle then returned to its hiding place. "The hell?" he muttered.

"Guess it doesn't want to come down here?" one of the Diamonds offered.

"Wonder why not," Cloud softly pondered.

"Probably due to the grendel down here."

"Now what's a gre… oh."

At the base of the stairs was a snarling lizard that was roughly as long as a man is tall, its yellow and green dappled body nearly brown in the poor light that filtered through the deeper water that buried the lower level of the Research Center and the odd pulsing glow of the singular orange dome light that had power on the floor. Its thick tail curved over its back, a glimmer of silver dancing along what appeared to be a razor-sharp edge to its underside. Massive fangs ground together as hot saliva splattered on the metal floor beneath the beast and was smeared about by huge claws on giant grasping feet. Its broad, muscular chest heaved as it sucked breath and snarled, spreading its arms as it heaved itself up onto its hind legs and held its front akimbo, displaying the thin webbing between its limbs that substituted for the wings of full-fledged dragons.

The Diamond in denim grabbed Cloud's hand and sprang right off of the stairway.

Before he could yell at her, he felt the change in the air – it cracked and snapped, the humidity instantly eradicated and dry electric charge filling the atmosphere instead.

As they fell through the air, Cloud's mind instantly processed all he was seeing.

Dolphins frolicked outside of the thick windows. Steam poured from ventilation ducts in the floor. Surrounded by a cloud of steam, a control panel sat dark and lifeless by the massive windows. Lightning crackled and danced over the stairway he and Diamond had just been occupying. An open floor panel, the trio of orange lights before it dark with the exception of the one most on the right, beckoned with another set of stairs.

As soon as their feet touched the deck, he launched towards the panel. He smirked as he heard the other Diamond follow – they'd caught on to his game plan.

"But we need to check for our target!" the Diamond that still held him gasped.

"Not here. Saw no sign of him. Let's just see how bad each floor is and how deep this goes for now!" Cloud snarled back as he charged down the stairs, dragging one girl and leading the other.

He caught a glimpse of a huge 3 on the wall as he barreled down the stairs and away from the grendel above, breathing a sigh of relief as it pawed at the stairs and dared not attempt to follow them, its clawed feel too massive and awkward for the descent.

That number on the wall, enclosed in a hexagon crafted of yellow and black hash marks, was bathed by a soft plume of steam. Outside of the windows that ran their gamut around the room a lone dolphin swam past, its continence dark and solemn in the increasingly murky waters. Another control assembly rested by the massive windows, steam billowing around it.

As Cloud hit the floor, he released his grip on Diamond and nodded towards the other who shared her name. "We'll deal with it later," he assured them, even as he let his eyes fall on the central pillar. "And that's… really different."

Walking towards the steel wall of the central pillar, her sneakers squeaking intermittently on the dusty metal ground, Diamond put her shoulder against the huge metal door emblazoned with the number 0. "I think it's sealed shut. It doesn't even creak."

"Is it even a door?" her twin inquired.

Rapping it lightly with the hilt of her saber, Diamond nodded to her twin and to Cloud. "It's hollow on the other side. That, and I can hear more steam on the other side. It's a slightly different rumble than everything over here."

"We can give it a try if these stairs lead to a dead end," Cloud suggested as he set his gaze on a trio of orange domes, the right-most one once again the only one lit, its light pulsing in the dark. "We've got a path for now."

"Roger," Diamond muttered.

Together they began their descent.

"Seems… longer, doesn't it?" one of the girls mumbled as darkness swallowed them.

Cloud stifled his comments, swallowing them sharply as his superior senses continued assaulting him with the soft whispers of groans and creaks seeping throughout the structure. Silently lecturing himself concerning the longevity of the structure, reminding himself that it had been standing in its location for nearly twenty years according to the SeeDs he was with, he tried to pry his imagination away from the grisly fantasy of those windows giving way and the ocean's bone-crushing weight annihilating them all.

"Six?" Diamond exclaimed.

Opening his eyes, having not even realized that he'd let them drift shut during their descent, Cloud stared.

They had indeed progressed directly to the sixth floor, as indicated by the number painted on its wall and surrounded in yellow and black that was barely visible in the horribly poor light.

Sunlight was so heavily filtered by the impressive depth of water beyond the glass that the ocean was more midnight than aquamarine, its inhabitants barely visible in faint flickers and flashes of silver as they swam in the distance. The interior of the room itself bordered on black, the pulsing glow of the small domed orange light on the ground a brilliant counterpoint to shadow, its solitary light casting odd shadows from its dark neighbors to its right. Overhead, red emergency lights stared like predatory eyes from darkness, their glow barely capable of piercing through the black environment and doing nothing to chase it away.

Just as Cloud was thanking the designers of the Deep Sea Research Center for putting those glowing orange lights on the floor by each floor panel and pondering why it was the left one lit this time rather than the right, his train of thought was cleanly derailed by a soft growl and the sound of saliva dripping behind him.

Cloud turned slowly, Caladbolg having never left his hand and leading his movement. He pointed its sharp steel tip towards the shadows.

Triple hisses oozed from the shadows, one directly before the blond warrior, one slightly to his left and the final just a touch to his right. The sharp scrape of claws against dusty metal floorboards joined those hisses moments later.

"Tri-Face…" one of the Diamonds whispered.

As it lunged, Cloud hopped straight back.

He screeched as he fell directly down the stairs, managing to roll as to not snap his neck.

As he fell head over heels, his tumble never seeming to stop, he cursed a livid streak about monsters, underwater rooms and ridiculous ruffled-collar wearing scientists with stupendously enormous demands.

Cloud's trip down the stairs came to a rapid halt. Pulling his face from the floor, he spat what tasted like an eon's worth of dust from his lips and groaned.

"Cloud!" twin voices called from above.

"I'm fine," he groaned as he rubbed his eyes and got to his feet, picking Caladbolg back up from where he'd dropped it in the process.

He stared at his surroundings.

It was another circular room, another pit of hissing steam and uncomfortable heat.

Beyond the windows, he could see a squat fish staring directly at him; he realized a moment later that it might in fact be entranced by its reflection in the window, as it opened its mouth to bare enormous teeth and viciously attacked the glass, the bopping light that dangled before its frightening jaws glowing with an odd green light. After a few moments the fish gave up its hunt and swam away, its form vanishing into utter darkness with the exception of its fleshy lantern hanging before its face. Barely visible to Cloud's enhanced vision was the shadowy forms of buildings, spires and roofs stretching into the black distance.

"This is the bottom of the ocean?" he whispered.

"Well, it's the ninth floor at least!" Diamond chirped behind him, startling him clean out of his impressed surveillance of the exterior of their protective room. Smoothing her pink dress, the girl squinted and scowled. "I can hardly see a thing down here. I barely saw the number as I walked right past it."

"You think it'd kill them to install some lighting down here?" her twin growled from deeper in the room.

"I don't think anyone cares anymore," Cloud offered with a smirk made invisible by the depths of the shadows that permeated the room.

The whir of machinery rumbled through the room, even as light burst into being around a square of flooring, highlighting Diamond's denim-clad frame as she began to sink out of sight. "Guys!" she cried desperately.

Instantly Cloud and Diamond were at her side, jumping onto the sinking elevator before hesitation or thought could override naturally driven action.

The thick metal platform they stood on sank slowly into mild yellow light that was nearly blinding to eyes acclimated to the darkness above, its sojourn down its metal railing loud and painfully rough. More than once the lowering platform suddenly stopped its motion, hanging motionless for a breadth of a second before snapping back into its downward journey, dropping a few perilous inches in freefall before regaining traction and continuing at a controlled rate. Cloud eventually squatted on the floor, one hand on his sword and the other by his feet to keep him stable throughout the descent. Each Diamond twin grasped one of his shoulders and held on for dear life, their only display of fear being light squawks when the platform would lose traction only to regain it a few inches further down and whimpers as it hung up only to work its way free in the following seconds.

Finally the platform settled into a groove in metal flooring, seamlessly joining its yellow and black hashed edging with similar paint that warned of its presence.

Cloud took a deep breath as he straightened himself, giving each girl a light pat on the shoulder to indicate that it was in fact safe and they'd stopped before he left the platform.

The room, more squared than circular as those above had been, was devoid of life. Instead of a hissing monster, a hissing machine squatted before them, colored with rust and the filth of ages as it belched steam from deep cracks in its construct.

As Cloud ran his fingers over the massive control panel, Diamond and Diamond slunk towards the massive door that was open to their right. A smirk crossed the blond warrior's lips as his exploring digits sank into an odd depression in the steel, feeling the outlines of what might have been knuckles. An experimental clenching of a fist and pressing of it into the hole he'd located confirmed his suspicions – someone with fists only a little smaller than his had beaten the machine into submission.

Trying not to laugh as thoughts of Squall and his group of friends finding this very room two years in the past and the stalwart gunblader turning his martial-artist friend loose against the hulking control panel that hunkered down before him, Cloud shook his head and walked through the door to meet up with the SeeDs that he was accompanying.

He couldn't suppress the shocked gasp that burst from his lips.

"I know, right?" the pink Diamond whispered at his side even as her twin scouted ahead.

The area was protected from the oppressive weight of the ocean's deep waters by a barely visible steel wall that encased it. And what was encased took Cloud's breath away.

Huge stone ruins stretched before him, ancient beyond reason and frozen in time.

Pillars stretched towards the to of the metal enclosure, crumbling and falling to the unseen depths buried in shadow, vast colonnades striving eternally to hold aloft a ceiling that had not existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. A cobblestone path stretched from the metal bridge he and Diamond stood upon, well fitted and of careful manufacturing, leading towards carefully hewed rock-formed stairwells that descended steadily into darkness. A rising arch, snapped in half at its precipice, towered before him. Everything was lit in faint, eerie blue light that poured from huge crystal fragments spurting from clusters of decaying stone.

"He's been here!" Diamond shouted.

Instantly the other Diamond at Cloud's side forgot to gawk at their surroundings and dashed into the ruins to meet her twin. "Really? Where?"

"Here! It's a footprint from a loafer. See? Right here in the dust!"

As the girls squealed in delight, Cloud sighed and slowly approached them, his eyes roving and absorbing the incredible sights.

He paused as he descended down the small stairwell to meet with the girls, his eyes springing wide open as he stared at the floor.

"Oh God…" he whispered.

The girls looked back at him, chocolate eyes curious. "What is it, Cloud?" the Diamond in denim asked innocently.

"There, on the floor. That pattern. I've… I swear I've seen that before."

Rising, the two of them stared at the floor under their feet. A moment later, the dress-wearing Diamond blinked rapidly and let her jaw fall slack. "You're right! It's…"

Narrowing his eyes, Cloud nodded. "It's the pattern of Eden's halo, isn't it?"

The girls met one another's gazes before nodding to Cloud. "Yeah, it is."

Looking around again, Cloud's lips twisted in a scowl, he whispered, "What are these ruins?"

"No one knows," Diamond muttered back to him even as her twin turned her saber over and over in her hands, staring cautiously into the darkness around them. "Looks like a temple, though."

"Instead of pondering that, maybe we should get moving," her twin grumbled. "I hear movement ahead, and it sounds much bigger than our missing archeologist."

A roar reverberated along steel walls and crumbling ruins.

It was a roar Cloud recognized from two months roving the Estharian deserts. "Well, looks like my trip's not for naught," he professed, trying to turn his focus on the task at hand rather than the grim discovery they might have stumbled across.

Shoulders slumping, the pink-clad Diamond laughed helplessly at him. "Then we should get going, yes?"

"Indeed," Cloud stated, stepping away from her and recommencing their apparently eternal plunge into the depths of the world.

As the roars grew louder, the blond warrior picked up his pace, taking the stairs first at an easy trot that bled into a run, barely catching sight of the steel cables that reached from far above into the pith of darkness below and the soft spray of waterfalls barely lit by crystal light in the distance.

Reaching another platform colored with the halo of Eden in faded crimson paint, he stared.

The enormous purple behemoth stared back before opening its mouth and roaring at him, its terribly loud voice reverberating through the ruins.

Reaching instantly into a pocket of his cargo pants, Cloud fished desperately for a stone.

"I've got it!" Diamond shouted as she sprang, her saber at her side and her short hair fluttering as she fell from the platform above.

"Wait! _Silence_! _Meteor_ could bring this whole place down!" Cloud tried to warn.

"She's got it junctioned to her attack!" the other Diamond yelled as she raced down the stairs, her own saber in her hands. Pulling to a halt by Cloud's side, she held her weapon before her as her chocolate eyes snapped shut in concentration.

The Diamond in denim screamed as she plunged onto the behemoth's broad skull, her saber colliding with the creature's thick skin with a moist scrape that told of its shallow penetration. Swinging its head sharply, the beast easily threw her off.

"Diamond!" Cloud shouted as the girl plummeted into darkness.

"I'm fine!" she shouted back from below even his enhanced eyesight's range, her voice echoing through the empty air and shimmying up the metal cable that stretched its taunt length into darkness. "Might take me awhile to climb back up, though!"

A sigh of relief escaped the blond as he turned away from the dangling steel cable that had carried Diamond's voice back up to him and her twin. Raising Caladbolg, he snarled and charged even as the monster ducked its head and pawed at the ground with an enormous clawed paw.

As fire burned through his veins, he moved as his instincts told him before he had the opportunity to think his actions through. A quick duck cleared him of the suddenly executed swipe of that massive paw, a lunge forward that ended in a roll drew him under the snap of huge wet fangs and hot breath, a lift of a hand and a twist of the body dug Caladbolg's sharp tip into the thick fur of the behemoth's chest. The beast's massive maw sagged open and hot breath roared over the ground, unaccompanied by sound.

"_Protect_!" Diamond yelled, sweeping her saber sharply to her side as sharp blue light burst into being at her feet and a flash of purple energy flew from her diminutive frame to encase Cloud. Even as that purple energy coalesced itself in a blue bubble around Cloud's body that shimmered for a split second before vanishing, the behemoth turned sharply on its feet and slammed its tail solidly into the pink-clad girl, wrenching its body free of the point of Cloud's sword, leaving a long bleeding gash in its muscular chest for its efforts.

Rolling out of the way of a rapidly descending foot, Cloud regained his feet and instantly leaped backwards and clear of the behemoth's underside, his toes touching the side of a pillar before he launched himself back at the beast even as Diamond collided with the large crystal that erupted from the center of the platform they occupied and crumpled into a heap beside it. His sword instantly before him, Cloud slammed into the front of the behemoth's tremendous skull.

Caladbolg dug into the beast's muzzle to the hilt. Swinging himself up and around, using his sword as a leverage point, Cloud wrenched his weapon free of its fleshy prison even as he landed squarely on the behemoth's back, cleaving the monster's nose in half. It flung its head back, blood spraying from its face and coloring the crumbling white stone around it ruby red.

Fire burning through his muscles, the singe of mako flooding his muscles, Cloud plunged his sword with every ounce of strength he could manage between the monster's massive shoulder blades and hung on to it for dear life.

The behemoth's silent scream flung saliva across the platform as it flung its head sharply, a cruelly curved horn catching its attacker along his side.

The flare of blue magic, the _Protect_ spell bursting to life, flooded the area with brilliant light even as Cloud swiftly grasped a handful of the behemoth's thick purple fur to keep from being thrown into oblivion. His teeth grit, the searing blue of mako lighting the edges of his vision, he wrenched Caladbolg free of its fleshy prison and leaped into the air as the monster threw itself to the ground, trying to grind the warrior to dust with its massive girth. Turning midair, Cloud grit his teeth as he fell back to the earth, launching himself back at his enemy the moment one of his feet touched the solid platform and plunged his sword solidly into the monster's side.

The beast lurched back onto its feet, snapping at the swordsman who cleaved into its flesh with sharp fangs, trying desperately to spear him upon its twisted horns. As Caladbolg snapped ribs and destroyed veins, a fanciful fountain of blood erupting from the deep wound as the beast frothed bloody foam and spittle at its lips, Cloud pulled his sword free once more and dashed underneath the creature. Rolling on his back as it stomped angrily at the floor and chewed in animalistic desperation at the blood that spattered from its mouth, the blond silently screamed as he shoved his enormous sword straight to the heavens with every iota of power he had in his possession, plunging it to the hilt into the monster's massive chest.

The behemoth gasped, the magic of Diamond's junctioned status magic making the event eerily quiet. The enormous purple-furred body shuddered. Blood splattered viscously onto the ground, bathing Cloud in a seemingly unending river of vitae.

Rolling out from under the monster, Cloud found his feet and dashed to its rear, springing to a collapsed pillar and using it to vault onto its back. A few quick steps put him at the base of its neck.

His sword in both hands, he fell to his knees with a roar, pushing Caladbolg through the thick fur and muscles of the behemoth's neck to sever its spinal cord.

Springing easily off its back as it collapsed completely, he rolled as he hit the ground and found himself instantly back on his feet. Looking around swiftly for any further challenge, Cloud slowly straightened his stance and allowed his grip to relax on his sword. Drawing a steadying breath and wiping the sweat of exhilaration and the behemoth's thick blood from his brow, he walked first to the Diamond who lay in a heap by the light-casting crystal near the behemoth's collapsed bulk.

Kneeling by her side, he lightly tapped her shoulder. "You alright?"

She groaned even as she lifted her head. "Ungh… yeah. Just knocked me for a loop."

Nodding, he stepped away from her, and then went about his task of prying the behemoth's barrier from its body.

A few minutes spent carefully shaving away fur, parting flesh and prying the silvery projection from the front of the monster's skull, and Cloud had his prize secreted away in a pocket of his pants. "One down, four to go," he cheerfully recanted as he wiped his blade clean on the behemoth's fur, then sliced a ribbon of relatively unmarred short furry skin from its hide to wipe the rest of himself down with. "Nothing worse than getting trapped underneath them… effective move, but damn does it suck," he muttered to himself, scowling in disgust as he plucked the sodden wet mess of his tank top from his chest.

"Gah, that thing hit harder than I was expecting it to," Diamond lamented as she regained her footing and shook her head, pressing the heel of her hand to her temple.

"Did it?" Cloud innocently asked. "Didn't seem any worse than the others I've fought."

Narrowing her eyes, Diamond snorted. "Yeah. You must've gained a hell of a lot of experience fighting those things, huh?"

A carefree shrug moving his shoulders, Cloud began his descent down the stairs once again.

"Makes sense now, why the bombs hit so hard. If you've been fighting behemoths alone and are strong enough to take them down without aid, then they're adjusting to you, not to us."

Blinking, Cloud turned slightly to watch the girl catch up to him. Walking at her side down the spiraling stairs, he cleared his throat. "Adjusting? What do you mean?"

Pausing, she looked at him with huge, incredulous brown eyes. "You… seriously don't know about that? That monsters adjust their strength to match your own?"

"They do?"

Slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand, Diamond snorted. "Gaw, you really are an alien like Selphie said. Even after a year here, you don't know that simple fact! I mean, everybody knows that Hyne's monsters sense the strength of those they face and can call upon his power to ramp their own power up to match."

Snorting quietly, Cloud shrugged. "Who says everybody knows that? Maybe every SeeD. No one else has ever told me anything like that. Then again, I usually don't have company on hunts."

Crossing her arms, Diamond simply shook her head before walking past him, her posture and facial expression clearly exuding her disgust. A few minutes later, her moodiness evaporated as she heard her twin calling to her, and with a laugh the girl walking with Cloud burst into skips down the stairs to fling herself into the other Diamond's arms.

Rolling his eyes, Cloud approached the dimly lit platform, eyes roving over the statue that erupted from the center of its impressive span.

The tall angel covered in flowing stone-carved cloth held its crumbled staff firmly to its side, its missing head having long crumbled from its neck. Cocking his head to stare at it, Cloud nearly cried out in alarm when he noticed the dim light cast by the crystals at the foot of the angelic being's pedestal dancing over something decidedly more organic – he slowly relaxed, though, when he noticed that it didn't move even with the Diamond twins in close vicinity verily dancing with glee that they'd survived the encounter with the overpowered behemoth up the stairs and that they'd found another draw-point, one loaded with a spell they called _Triple_.

Slowly approaching the lump of material in the shadows, Cloud winced as his nose picked up the stench of rotten flesh. Whatever he was approaching was likely dead, and had been for a good amount of time.

Pinching his nostrils shut, deciding that short gasps for breath through his mouth were preferable over inhaling the terrible stench, he narrowed his eyes to focus more clearly on the object he was approaching.

He stifled a gasp when he beheld the behemoth laying motionless on the platform, its back end missing completely as if dissolved away. Stepping around the hulking creature, he felt the contents of his stomach surge towards his mouth and swallowed sharply to keep them right where they belonged.

The creature was verily chopped in half, its innards a twisted, rotting, green-tinted mess and its bones crumbled away as if they were decaying stone like the ruins around them rather than organic framework shattered or snapped by impact. Looking very much like it had been dissolved by acid, mutilated and melted before entropy could make a slimy disaster of its remains, the behemoth's corpse lay forever motionless.

Cloud blinked rapidly as he noticed, buried in the decimated remnants of the messy remains, a pair of smaller forms – two behemoth babies, crushed under the bulk of their mother, destroyed by her mass. Their skulls jutting from under their would-be protector's belly, one with its eyes rotted completely away and the other with half of its skull dissolved much as the rear of the adult monster had been, they lay smashed and contorted in eternal agony.

He tried not to let a whoop of glee escape him as he made short work of the smelly specimens and quickly gathered what he needed, the barriers never subjected to the trials of battle and therefore completely undamaged.

The girls looked at him with disgust. Diamond the pink held her hand to her face and pinched her nose shut. Diamond the denim-clad shook her head and grunted, "You're taking a plunge into the ocean to rub that funk off of you before we get back onto the boat, buster."

"Oh, come on," Cloud groused. "I need barriers, and there were three for easy harvesting. Easier to harvest from already dead behemoths than seek out more live ones to battle, especially if they 'adjust' as you guys claim."

"Still, that's just plain disgusting," the girl in denim stated blandly.

"Alright, so it's not as stench-free as wrenching them out of a still-bleeding carcass. But you'd do the same in my shoes," he snorted ruefully.

The two girls looked at one another with doubt coloring their faces.

"Still," Cloud mused, looking at the corpses he'd further mutilated to claim the barriers from their skulls, "I do wonder what killed them. Weird injuries."

"Can we please leave this behind?" the girl in pink pleaded, her face green as she looked at the monsters herself. "The smell is unbearable!"

Rolling his eyes, Cloud turned his back on them and continued his descent down into the ruins. "Fine, fine," he mumbled as he wandered down the zigzagging stairwell that danced around the steel cable that still plunged into darkness, the pathway glimmering with the light of more and more glowing crystals.

He slowed as he reached an intact arch. Coming to a halt underneath it, remaining bathed in its shadows, he held out an arm to stop the girls from progressing beyond him. "Hush," he whispered.

Diamond nearly squeaked as she came close to running into Cloud – her twin sensibly slapped her hand over her partner's mouth, shaking her head vigorously enough for her short hair to dance along her chin before tilting her chin towards what had captured Cloud's attention. Two sets of chocolate eyes joined softly glowing blue to stare.

They'd finally reached the bottom of the ruins.

A platform of white stone covered in dirt and rubble stretched towards a large black pool of salty water that rippled in the soft lighting. The quiet music of waterfalls joining with that pool in the far distance, a rumble that filled the background with ambiance and character, skittered over tiny waves that lapped against the platform and slid around the steel cable that, still as taunt as it had been further up in the ruins, stretched into the waters. Crystals grew at odd angles from collapsed architecture surrounded by lush green plants and sprawling ivy. A huge hulking control panel, a shape carved of steel, rust and flickering lights, stood at odds with everything else in the area, a slim steel cable dragging itself from the rear of that panel into the rippling dark waters of the pool at the bottom of the sea. Throughout the area, the must of dust and salt hung heavily in the air, coupled with the faint stench of behemoth fur.

A soft growl, resonating so well with the quiet waterfalls' rumble that it was nearly masked, eased from the distant shadows.

Before that control panel, a human figure was crouched, a large hat pulled over its head and its fingers tightly gripping a pen that furiously scribbled in its book.

"It's here… It's here… It's here!" the figure, its voice deep and masculine, panted in rapture.

"That's gotta be him!" Diamond whispered, even as her partner pointed to the shadows.

"Behemoth," she warned, her eyes wide.

"We'll move if it attacks," Cloud mouthed to his partners. "If it's just defending its young, it likely won't move from its spot unless he approaches. He could be safe for now."

"Wha-" Diamond began to say before her twin shook her head sharply.

"Hunted them for two months in the desert. Found breeding communities like this," Cloud muttered, his voice as quiet as he could keep it. "Let's see if he'll come this way on his own. There's no other way out of this area. Besides, if the behemoth notices us here, it'll spook and attack everything – he'll be the first victim, since he's right by it."

Nodding, the denim-clad Diamond brushed her lips against his ear. "Makes sense. If anything goes south, though, we've got to do our best to save him."

The other Diamond smirked. "Contract says nothing about bringing him back alive – it's more concerned with getting his materials back to the University and verifying his location. But it's a matter of personal pride, you know?"

"Got it," Cloud mumbled, hunkering down in the shadows, Caladbolg gently set on the stone so slowly and carefully that it didn't make a single sound.

"The secret temple… the things they've been hiding… ultimate power! The power of the ancients from before the great Wars!" the man cackled, sweating profusely as he scribbled in his book. "The temple of the destroyer – finally, I have found it. I'll be famous! I'll be immortal! My prayers have been heard; oh Hyne, it's mine!"

"I think he's off his nut," Cloud muttered, his voice as bland as his gaze as he looked at the girls.

Almost sheepish giggles shook the pair as they shrugged in unison. "Well, he has been here a full week by himself," one Diamond offered, even as the other whispered, "I'd go crazy too, if all I had to live on was seaweed, flowers, and what little water I had in my canteen."

"Come from the seas! Come from the planet's depths! Cease your slumber, and rise to glory!" the man screamed as he rose to his feet, his hands splayed to his sides, his pen and book toppling to the floor. His manic laughter reverberated through the entirety of the ruins as he turned to the control panel and stroked it with trembling fingers, his tongue lapping at sweat-slicked lips.

The massive monster hidden in the shadows stirred, agitated by the man's unpredictable and odd movements.

"Great," both Diamond twins whispered simultaneously, their tones of dismay and buried anger identical.

As the huge behemoth rose from its spot, its mouth falling open in a snarl and its beady eyes glowering at the crazed man who was rubbing his body over the control panel while shouting that his time had finally come and ultimate power would be his, the girls spent a mere second with their sabers held before them, eyes closed in concentration. As one, they ran from the cover of the arch's shadows to stand between the purple beast and their target.

The control panel whined and the rope that dangled from it was suddenly snapped taunt, the winch hidden within the panel itself squealing in protest as it was forced to function.

Cloud tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, preparing to leap between the girls and the agitated monster, his leery eye on the archeologist keeping him steady for a split second.

That split second of delay saved him.

Golden light suddenly burst through the room from the dark pool with its gentle ripples, the sting of salt water spraying violently from the depths assaulting everything within the steel walls of the confined ruins.

Cloud scrunched himself completely behind the arch's vertical pillar, using it to shield him from whatever was happening, even as the Diamonds screamed and threw their arms before their eyes. The behemoth roared in terror. The archeologist screamed in near-orgasmic glee.

Then, with naught but a vile puff of sound, he and the behemoth burst into nothing but faint clouds of dust and sparkling droplets of blood.

Cloud's mouth instantly went dry.

The girls dashed from where they were standing as the horribly brilliant light began to fade away even as Cloud fought the sudden wave of terror that washed over him.

He'd seen that attack before.

When he'd first fought for his Sorcerer, when he'd first thrown himself into danger's path to defend the one he'd tethered his soul to, he'd seen many young warriors fall just as the archeologist and the beast that had been preparing to attack had.

He'd seen the power of Sorcery explode into being that day. He'd watched the monster that destroyed with nary a brush of its feathers, with its touch, with its hideous presence, waylaid by impossible power. He'd stared as the creature, after being decimated by magic that certainly would have laid anything he'd ever dreamed of facing in the past completely asunder, simply sank into the sea with a profession that it would rise again when Hyne's might no longer protected the world from its hunger.

Cloud launched himself from his hiding spot, Caladbolg hefted before him, and fell upon the control panel. With a scream of mingled rage and terror he swiftly destroyed the machine – the cable it was so desperately pulling at snapped with a sharp crack and instantly fell into the glowing waters.

The golden light sparkled in the rapidly refilling pool, water dancing over its surface and drenching the three people who still stood upon the platform.

_"The moon still sits in the heavens; Hyne's eye still watches this world. Who would dare call eternity before its time?"_

The three of them staggered under the enormous weight of the voice that bellowed from everywhere around them, its very presence blasting through water and stone and reducing much of it to absolutely nothing.

"Run!" Cloud screamed, dashing desperately for the stairs.

The Diamonds needed no prompting – they were at his heels as he sprang away, taking three steps at a time easily as they leapt after the fleeing blond.

The ruins rattled and shook violently as golden light surged again from the waters below. The Diamond in denim screamed as she lost her footing – Cloud instantly had her hand and hauled her into his arms, never breaking from his run and moving as only a man motivated by sheer terror can.

Pillars crumbled around them, the faint remnants of ruins shuddering even as the booming profession of the beast in the waters finally faded away, the golden light settling as it returned to silence; with no one remaining to challenge it, the angered denizen of the deep was returning to its slumber.

The settling of the buried monstrosity below didn't slow Cloud or the Diamond girls any – they continued their breakneck run past behemoth corpses and the now fallen angel statue, leaping over collapsed rocks and toppling stairways in their desperate drive to reach the safety of the Deep Sea Research Center's metal rooms.

Reaching the bridge that lead to its lowest layer in record time, Cloud set the girl in his arms on her feet, taking only a second to ease her fingers from his damp tank top before he fell to the control panel that belched its steam, wildly pressing buttons and whining for it to undo whatever had been done years ago and close the damned door already.

The Diamond in pink kicked the control panel with her chunky pink plastic sandal carrying every ounce of her might.

With a pained grinding, mechanical gearing in the walls was forced into operation and the massive door that had granted them access to the behemoth-infested ruins lifted and sealed itself shut.

The two SeeDs and their blond companion sank to the floor with relieved sighs.

"I thought we were goners," Diamond laughed as she pulled the white tank top that had all but adhered itself to her skin with her adrenaline-produced sweat from her body.

"That was…" the other Diamond whispered, her face pale as she looked at the door.

"Yeah," Cloud moaned, sinking completely to the floor to lie flat on his back and close his eyes. "Looks like she went back to her temple to wait to bring the end of the world."

Grinning, Diamond shook her head. "You know… Diablos was right on that. We really don't want to mess with that Guardian Force, do we?"

"Makes a girl wonder how the last Commander managed to get her in the first place," the other Diamond observed.

Cloud shook his head slowly. "Don't even want to think about it."

"Like I don't want to think how pissy Diablos is going to be once I get my hands on a GF-Returner. He hates being used as a shield."

"I was wondering how you made it through that unscathed," Cloud stated, cracking open an eye to regard the girls.

"Dashing good looks and fantastic luck?" Diamond professed with a smirk as she flung her ponytail behind her shoulder.

"Ha. If you had that, you never would've lost against me in Dollet."

Cloud didn't move except to grin as a thick-soled sneaker bounced off of his chest. After a moment, he snickered quietly and was met by laughter in return.

"Only bad thing is, now I've got to find another behemoth nest," he lamented once the girls had stopped giggling. "I still need one more barrier, and there's no way I'm going back in there to get one."

Getting to her feet and dusting her knees off, Diamond sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, Cloud. I don't think we're going to another behemoth nest. For now, we've got to get back to Galbadia and deliver this guy. After we scrub it and pull anything that could be harmful, that is."

Sitting up, he granted the girl in pink a small smile even as she tapped into the dimensional space provided by her Guardian Force, drawing the ill-fated archeologist's journal from its depths. "Understood. Thanks for the help you were able to provide. You've gotten me really close to my goal."

Diamond swept her shorter hair away from her face as she rose and offered Cloud a hand. "Actually… you won't have to do that. You did say that you had forty-five barriers, right?"

"Yeah, but I only got four during our little sojourn," he stated with a shrug after graciously accepting the brunette girl's assistance and getting to his feet. Brushing dust off his rump, he turned towards the elevator. "Let's hope that in beating on that control panel, we didn't inadvertently turn this thing off."

He blinked rapidly as something cool and smooth was pressed into his hand. Looking down, he stared. "This…"

"Let's just say that we're no longer in your debt for the help," Diamond muttered, a blush staining her cheeks even as she shoved her fingers into the small pockets of her denim shorts.

As her twin nudged her with a smirk on her lips, Cloud simply slid the barrier into his cargo pants and hefted Caladbolg back off the floor. "Well ladies, we've got a long fight to the surface. Shall we?"

Giggling behind a slender hand, Diamond sashayed to his side, her short pink dress swaying around her hips. "Of course, Cloud."

As he stared blankly, one girl laughed and the other flushed even as the platform began its slow, grinding ascent towards freedom.

_-to be continued-_


	3. Believe

Woo! Hope that last chapter had plenty of action for you. Because… well, nah. It's not going to stop quite yet. Expect more! Though for a time, we're going to be removed from the confusion that's inherent in dealing with Diamond and Diamond. Because… damn it Square, couldn't you have given the girls different names?!

So no Diamond twin action this chapter as Cloud continues his journey to nowhere! Wee!

Disclaimer: I in no way own any portion of the Final Fantasy franchise except the spiffy stuff I've purchased over the years and the Squall plushie that accompanies me on deployment for snuggling purposes. Nor do I own any song by the Smashing Pumpkins, especially not 'Tonight, Tonight' which provides not only the lyrics that became chapter titles for this story but also inspiration for this fic. Please don't sue – I'm simply an E6 in the Navy, and therefore I have no money. Ha.

_-BEGIN FIC-_

Chapter 3  
Believe

_I try to open my eyes and fail._

_I don't know how Time has moved beyond my eyelids. I don't know how long I have been awake. I don't know how long I have dreamed._

_How much of the Future that I've seen in my dreams has become Present and seeped into Past? How many paths have been closed by my failure to move? How many paths have been maintained open?_

_When will I be able to be present in the Present? When will I be able to rectify the Past's errors? When will I be able to shape the Future? When will my dream of freedom be realized?_

_It seems so fanciful, this dream of stepping free of my prison into warmth, into the arms of someone who waits for me, who treasures me. Is it stepping into the Present? Or is it stepping into my death in the Future? A sliver of me believes it to be the former – most of me figures that it will be the latter._

_All I can do is wait… and believe._

* * *

Cloud awakened with a yelp.

Turning sharply, he glowered at his traveling companion. "For crying out loud!"

Smiling broadly, the man targeted by Cloud's vicious glare laughed outright at the blond, running his hand through short brown hair and winking a dark eye in Cloud's direction. "It's about time for us to get off the truck, buddy."

"You could've chosen some way to wake me other than shoving an ice cube down my pants."

"Eh, seemed effective," Cloud's partner said with a grin.

"You're just as bad as the Diamonds. Are all of you Card Club members such sadists?" Cloud grunted as he ruefully rubbed the front of his pants. "And here I was having… I dunno… kind of an almost pleasant dream."

"Do tell?"

"Something that didn't involve my junk freezing, first off," Cloud snarled.

"And just this morning, you were whining about the heat."

"I don't whine," the blond retaliated with a grimace. "I complain."

"Of course, of course."

A new voice burst into the fray. "We're at the Lunar Gate. This is as far as we can take you, gentlemen. Are you certain that you want to head out into the desert alone?"

"Sure are!" Cloud's companion brightly exclaimed with a brilliant smile even as he pried his backpack of belongings out from the heaping pile of gear that was crammed into the relatively tight space they were sharing with five other men, all in various states of readiness so far as their donning of their Estharian-issued armor and being armed was concerned.

"Eh, suit yourself, Cap," the driver of the large canvas-sided truck muttered, casting the brunette that accompanied Cloud a wave. "Just don't say we never offered you a better destination. Still say that if you wanted some action and good times, you and your friend should be coming with us to the northern reaches before we make the return trek to the capital. Rumor is that there's a herd of wild chocobos running rampant near the Laboratory. The farmers are going to be real happy when we run those damned birds back into the forests where they belong and save the harvest-season crops."

"Them and their daughters!" one of the soldiers in the back of the truck cracked with a bright grin.

As laugher rolled from the truck, Spade grinned with them even as Cloud held his head in disbelief and rescued his duffle bag from the mass of gear.

"Well, don't let me slow you down. You guys have fun. And you guys," Spade stated, gesturing quickly to the two cyborg soldiers who accompanied their fully-human counterparts, "I'm relying on you to use your sobriety and superior reasoning skills to get them back to the capital without a major incident."

The one nearest to Spade waved his hand without concern. "No problem, Cap."

"Yeah, watch the kiddos. Always the same for us," the other snorted, his tone bored.

"But make sure you have fun too, right? I mean, c'mon. Once you show off your studdly cyborg enhancements, who's going to go for those skinny little dweebs?"

Before Cloud could test the theory that eyes could in fact be rolled out of a skull, he instead grabbed his partner's weapon and threw it out of the truck. He smirked as it thumped loudly onto the sand.

"Hey! What'd'ya do that for?" Spade exclaimed, his raucous laughter suddenly squelched as he jumped out of the truck.

"So we can move out this year," Cloud replied with a growl as he grabbed Caladbolg, shrugged its sheath's strap onto his left shoulder, and lightly hopped down onto the scorching desert sands to join with the brunet man.

Even as he lifted his heavy black staff with its weighted silver ends from the ground and shook it free of sand, Spade turned an almost playful scowl at the spiky-haired blond. "Man, you're in a foul mood."

A sigh rattled free of Cloud's lungs as he stared at his newest impromptu partner on his journey. "And you're shockingly jovial. I never took you for being a jester. Somehow, I always thought that the one of you called 'Card Magician Joker' would be the one with never ending smiles, wisecracks and obnoxious cheer. Instead it's you."

Spade smirked. "Well, you learn something new about the people around you every day, now, don't you?"

"Sure do," Cloud reluctantly concurred.

He couldn't truly suppress his smile, though. Even though at the moment Spade was agitating his frayed nerves that had been left frazzled by his rather eventful trip, the man was putting him at ease with his cheer.

The trip to Esthar had been, in Cloud's mind, horribly eventful.

He and the Diamond twins had battled long and hard to the top of the Deep Sea Research Center, the girls' magic saving him from having to waste his precious spell stones on healing and blindness. The fights had been long and hard, ambushes common and the monsters plentiful as they swarmed in groups on the party that was fleeing the rumbling station. The massive bout of shaking that had rattled the entire structure seemed to have put everything within its construct on guard – every floor had wild, rampaging bombs accompanying lightning-breathing razor-tailed grendels and poison-spitting tri-faces awaiting the small party's eruption from the floor below.

And making matters worse, Cloud's senses wouldn't allow him any momentary reprieve – even in those seconds between fights, he could hear the groaning of the Research Center around him, shaken from its decades-old foundation and settling against the bottom of the sea, crushing weight pressing against its age-tested metal and ancient glass. Even the sea-life he'd watched flit about outside of those enormous windows on his way down had evacuated the area, their instincts moving them from danger just as certainly as Cloud's own drove him to flee the site as quickly as possible.

The two SeeDs and the blond warrior had climbed the roots leading to the roof of the Research Center in record time, making their boat and fleeing as quickly as possible towards the setting sun. Finally taking a moment to relax, the adrenaline high keeping nausea from overriding his body, Cloud thought that the trials and tribulations of his time with the Diamonds were finally over.

Rather, they were still in progress.

Not long after they'd left the Deep Sea Research Center forgotten in the expansive field of blue that stretched behind the boat, Diamond and Diamond had revealed that with Siren and Diablos, they could make Cloud's load much more manageable. They were capable of performing the refining he so desperately needed to acquire the items he'd been sent to retrieve for Odine to craft his inhibitor bracelet – one Guardian Force had the ability to do what was necessitated naturally, and the other had been taught the other refining ability at the cost of being encouraged to forget an ability that apparently exuded an aura of terror from the SeeD to whom the creature was tethered that cut the number of encounters with Hyne's monsters nearly clean in half.

He'd handed over the items in question, his bag of curse spikes gathered from slaughtered forbiddens and his complete collection of barriers stripped from the corpses of behemoths. He had watched in absolute fascination as they held their hands above the pile of what his eyes had regarded as useless crap, purple energy floating from their fingertips to pop with tiny bursts of brilliant white light on the stacks of goods. And with a final flare of brilliant light accompanying a sharp unearthly whistle and crunch of material being compressed and reshaped, the magic died away. In the place of his relatively large pile of curse spikes and barriers sat only two items – a beautifully carved and intricately wound silvery metal armlet with deep blues and reds spiraling over its surface, and a chunk of matter that seemed almost darker than the blackest onyx or jet Cloud had ever laid his eyes on in his life, its blackness seeming to cast shadows about it and absorb whatever light dared to approach its vicinity. Dark matter and the aegis armlet were finally his.

He was finally able to retire his backpack, bunching it into a ball and stuffing it with his dirty laundry in his duffle as he slipped the cards he needed to have refined into items and his new acquisitions into his pants.

It was shortly after the refining had been completed that the boat had run out of fuel, leaving them stranded in the middle of the ocean.

While water and food weren't an immediate concern given the provisions they'd stuffed the vessel with, their lack of cover did start making life difficult. They quickly ran out of sunscreen and were battling for space in the cramped cabin in the front of the boat as their vehicle drifted on ocean currents.

Out of range of satellites and incapable of using their cellular phones to contact any assistance, the Diamonds were at a loss about what to do and had decided to turn to the game of entertaining themselves with their guest to pass the time.

Cloud had taken to cramming himself in the most narrow corner of the cabin, relying on the soft burn of mako lighting his senses and keeping his heart rate elevated, to protect himself from what might have once been desired attentions but at the moment were anything but from the pretty young women who were bound and determined to make use of the only available man in their vicinity.

He had nearly thrown himself overboard and swam to their rescuer when the White SeeD Ship sailed to their side.

Keeping himself sequestered on the boat, he readily accepted their offer to drop him off on the Estharian continent before sailing to Galbadia to assist the SeeD duo with the completion of their task. Originally having been following the rumblings of the planet to investigate the disturbance at the Deep Sea Research Center, the young SeeDs who drove their mysterious ship across the world's oceans were more than happy to turn tail and sail away when Cloud and Diamond recanted the tale of what they'd witnessed – the light that slaughtered, the thundering voice that brought destruction, the presence of one above and beyond anything remotely natural on the planet.

They were perhaps less willing to deal with the powerful entity that lay at the bottom of the sea than Cloud and the Diamond twins themselves were.

Cloud had entertained himself by playing cards with some of the SeeDs in white during their journey, speaking with them at length about the history of the world and the myths of Hyne and Sorcerery, doing his laundry and snoozing under a coat of Dramamine to ward off seasickness. Within two days the SeeDs that had rescued them from their drifting boat were in contact with someone they knew in the Estharian army. Two days after that, they were able to make out the coastline of the landmass that carried the industrious Esthar nation upon it, lit by the soft white light that poured from the full moon above and the odd glow that poured from the huge structures at Tears' Point. When they'd launched a small boat to bring Cloud to the shore near midnight, he'd readily absconded with his gear and made for land before the Diamond twins could be awakened and the shorthaired girl could make any attempts to grant him a farewell he'd either find inexcusably unforgettable or come to regret.

Much to his surprise, he'd been met by a canvas-sided truck carrying armor, guns, ammunition and gear along with six soldiers in its back and two in its cab. Suspicion had flared to life, only to be smothered seconds later when the man who sat in the passenger seat of the truck's cab leapt free of its confines and greeted him with a wave and a smile.

Spade had informed him that his small unit had been mobilized to run surveillance regarding odd activity that had been detected seeping from Tears' Point and had just received orders to head to the northern reaches of the continent that bordered the cliffs segregating the Grandidi Forest from Esthar's deserts, and therefore been close enough to swing east and pick him up as a 'favor for a friend.' So for the last ten hours, they'd been rumbling over the remains of a forgotten desert road and Cloud had been napping away the remnants of motion sickness to the best of his abilities until his rude awakening.

Taking a moment to stare in awe and wonder at the huge building that sprawled across the desert sands so very close to where the truck had dropped them off and yet so far away, eyes tracing the curved tracks of launch ramps streaming along the sands and curving towards the heavens to puncture through thick clouds that hid those rails' terminations from view, he silently wished for sunglasses to shade his sensitive eyes from the intense glimmer of the sun that poured from the station's massive glass walls.

"Impressive, isn't it? Rumor is they cold-sleep you before firing you so that it's easier to calculate right where you'll end up because you won't be moving in the capsule. Lost a few of the first people they shot into space because they flailed during the launch sequence and threw the whole thing off-course, according to the scientists. Buddy of mine that works up at the base says they really knock you out so you don't piss yourself during launch and make a mess of the pod that the crew has to clean up later before they can return it planet-side."

"Gee, thanks for that insight," Cloud stated with a smirk and a shake of his head. Rolling his shoulders under his thin button-up white shirt, he muttered under his breath. "Light colors, and I'm still sweating. Heat here's worse than it was around Midgar."

"Where?" Spade questioned as he hefted his heavy pack onto his back, struggling to get it centered between his shoulder blades and squarely over the heavy leather straps that held the shoulder guards and thick collar-like protective armor that protected his chest.

"Nowhere you'd know," Cloud replied with an off-hand shrug before digging through the plethora of pockets in his shorts, getting himself acquainted with where he'd stashed his gear. "Offensive… Defense… Status, Recovery and stupid breakable crap… Items for Odine. Alright. I'm ready to go," he stated as he slid the strap for his duffle bag across his chest so it sat on his right hip as a counterbalance to his greatsword.

"Good to know. I take it you've got a good collection of stones and items?" Spade inquired as he pulled leather gloves from a pouch on the side of his backpack that he could barely reach and tugged them onto his hands.

"Sure do. So far as items are concerned, I've got a hi-potion, an x-potion, a couple antidotes, an echo screen and some eye drops. For stones, I've got a few Protects, some Shells, a handful of Auras, a couple of Holy stones, some Deaths, more than a few Flare stones and my last Ultima. And two of the Curagas that I got from Joker last year to top it off in the magic rock territory."

"Ultima?" Spade whistled. "Who'd you sell a virgin to in order to get that one?"

Cloud's mouth sagged open momentarily. "Sell… a…"

"Just a statement," his partner replied with a casual raise of his hand and a smirk as he heaved his massive weighted staff onto a shoulder. "Now if I recall correctly, we'll want to be heading pretty close to due west. This way." Gesturing with a thumb, Spade offered Cloud a nod before turning and walking in the direction he'd pointed.

"How about you?" Cloud inquired with an arched brow.

"Well, as you know I'm not toting GFs anymore, so paramagic's kind of out the window. I may have a stone or two up my sleeves – Auras – in addition to some items like elixirs and remedies that I noticed you failed to mention you having on your person. Plus I've got the little trick incorporated into the ends of a Meteostaff." Shifting his massive weapon on his shoulder, Spade cast an easy smile before returning his focus to the sands ahead and adopting a more brisk pace. "Hope you don't mind picking up the speed, but we do have a goodly amount of distance to cover."

Nearly jogging to catch up with the taller man's long stride, Cloud cast his partner in his journey a critical look. "I don't mind but… aren't you roasting in that?"

"You get used to it," Spade replied, his voice flippant and easy as he reached back into the pouch on his backpack, fingers taking a few minutes to explore before they located what he desired, and began to apply the sunscreen that he pulled free.

"Just looks a bit smothering," Cloud observed as his eyes poured over the play of blue, gray and yellow leather that encased the man's body like a second skin before settling on his head, his brain quickly processing that he was indeed grateful that Spade was forgoing wearing the helmet that gave Esthar's army soldiers their oddly alien look.

"That's what I first thought when I transferred here," the brunet quickly confessed with a grin and a rub to the back of his head. "Still hate that helmet. The rest of it, though, is surprisingly comfortable once you get used to the idea that every lady around can clearly see your assets if you forget your cup."

Cloud sputtered momentarily before giving his partner an incredulous look. "Why did you ever transfer in the first place?" he questioned even as he offered a slim nod in thanks as the sunscreen was passed his way.

While his pale blond partner slathered himself in salvation from the burning sun's rays, Spade smiled and shook his head. "My time at Balamb expired. It was time to transfer or roll into staff. A person can only stay a cadet until he's nineteen – if he hasn't made SeeD, he's gone. And even if a guy does make SeeD, he's done when he's twenty. At that age we've got to either find a real job or move into teaching or staff rolls to be eternally on standby for 'save the world' type stuff if everyone who's active SeeD sucks too much to get the job done. Fortunately for guys like me with no desire to move far outside of what we do as SeeDs, the Gardens have a pretty extensive network set up with all the nations of the world. Every army out there is clamoring for SeeD personnel. After all, while we can't bring GFs and paramagic with us, we do bring experience and everything we were taught – mostly, how to strategize on our feet and work with anyone we're thrown into a situation with. And how to be covert if necessary – that one's pretty valuable, too. Plus all the black-ops stuff a guy could ever hope to learn."

"Well, I get that," Cloud muttered as he handed the bottle of lotion back to Spade. "I mean, better to get a transferred soldier who knows what he's doing than a fresh-faced recruit that has no idea how to handle a weapon. But why wouldn't you stay-"

"After what happened? I'm not staying with a Garden that'd do what Balamb did to my Commander."

Cloud nearly recoiled at the sharp bite that snapped from his easy-going partner's lips. Glancing over, he blinked, arching a brow.

Eyes narrowed, teeth grit, Spade glowered at the sprawling desert sands that stretched ahead of him even as he kept walking. "The Card Club are still my friends and I'll still help them however I can. And I can't say that I hate SeeD – I've got way too many friends in their ranks to really take on that attitude. But I will not show fealty to an organization that won't stand behind someone like Squall. As long as he's not a threat to the world, there's no reason for us to rise against him, I say."

A smirk slid across Cloud's lips, completely unforced and natural. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, actually."

Blinking, his eyes losing the hard edge that had overridden their dark irises, Spade seemed to physically shrug the overbearing mantel of anger that had smothered him. A smile lit his face. "Just speaking the truth."

"So to change the subject," Cloud ventured, glancing towards the cloudy sky above that did nothing to truly smother the heat cast on the desert by the late-morning sun, "we expecting any monsters on this little trip of ours?"

"Oh, plenty."

Eyebrow twitching, Cloud scowled. "How can you be so easy going about that?"

A smirk and a shrug met Cloud's dour look. "Because really, we shouldn't hit much outside of turtapods and imps this far out. Most've the hellfire spewed by the moon two years ago congregated around the capital after it dumped around Tears' Point. Plus rumor says that you did a number on the behemoth population throughout the deserts. They all should've fled to the south. Out in this direction they'd have to contend with worse than themselves so I imagine they've steered clear."

"Worse… than them…" Cloud grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, like Iron Giants."

"The big purple armor monsters that are level five Triad cards?"

"Exactly!" Spade brightly professed. "Like that one over the next dune."

Swinging his gaze forward, Cloud stared.

Barely visible over the crest of the dune they were walking towards was a pair of sharp purple spikes.

"We're going around it, right?" Cloud muttered.

Blinking, Spade turned his gaze on Cloud. "Of course. What kind of retard do you take me for?"

Instantly squashing his response on the tip of his tongue, Cloud instead let an easy shrug answer for him even as his partner turned their path north to circumvent the obstacle before them.

The ground rumbled violently under them, throwing both men from their feet. With sharp exclamations of shock, they slid down the gentle slope they'd been progressing up, their last hundred feet of progress eradicated.

A huge hole opened at the base of the dune they'd been walking along, sand pouring into it like water.

Grabbing Spade's wrist even as he threw his duffle bag aside, Cloud snarled as he ripped Caladbolg from its sheath and plunged its length into the sand, praying for some purchase. His prayers were answered – the sword bit into deeper ground that remained in place under its fluid surface coating, arresting their fall towards the abysmal pit.

Another rumble rattled the land as the sands all but exploded from the sinkhole that had been consuming them, forming a small mound at the base of the dune.

A huge orange fanged maw suddenly burst from the center of that mound of sand, open and pouring saliva as it raced for the two men on the dune.

Releasing his grip on Spade, Cloud yanked Caladbolg free of the ground launched himself left even as the ex-Seed dropped his heavy pack and rolled right. Striking the pack, the segmented worm chewed it uselessly before flinging its massive head and throwing it over the dune. A roar echoed from its ravenous mouth as its six stumpy projections erupting from its head swiveled and turned, focusing unseen eyes on the men on the sands.

Rising to his feet, his stance shaky at best, Cloud held Caladbolg before himself even as his fingers slid towards one of the pockets of his shorts.

"Don't waste it! It's just an abyss worm," Spade called as he sprang towards the monster.

"'Just'?" Cloud exclaimed even as he saw the worm lift its massive head high, what little of its body that was visible easily stretching over fifteen feet above the sands.

Spade rolled underneath the worm's body as it swung its length around, barely scraping the dodging man as its head skittered along the dune. Cloud easily leaped over the monster's attack, scowling as its body quickly whipped out of range for a counterattack.

Reaching the pit from which the worm erupted, Spade spun his massive staff and slammed one of the weighty ends of it against its segmented body, sinking it into the monster's flesh before the round mass was pushed away by the beast's naturally springy texture. The worm howled loudly as its side began to ooze a brilliant orange-red goop that served it as blood, the liquid thickly mingling with the desert's sand.

In an instant, Spade swung again, smashing his staff against the same spot and being rewarded by an explosive burst of thick foaming vitae that nearly coated him. A quick duck and roll got him out of range as the monster stretched its body back and lunged with its fleshy fangs at his location.

Sliding down the dune, Cloud roared as he leapt from the sands and plunged onto the worm, Caladbolg's impressive length leading the way.

The brilliant blue greatsword sliced like a hot knife does through butter as it plowed through the spongy body of the worm, bathing Cloud in a fountain of orange blood as he sank through its meager resistance. The worm howled and thrashed, the sands shifting and buckling as its body writhed deep within the ground. Then without warning, it wrenched its split body away and plunged back into its pit.

Wiping goop from his eyes and scowling as he felt it weigh down his hair, Cloud grumbled and flicked his sword, spraying a colorful ribbon of blood across the sands.

A hiss seeped through the air.

"Yeah, Spade?" he muttered as he tried to wipe the mess from around his eyes.

"You know that stone you were going for?"

Pausing, his hand inches from his face, Cloud scowled. "Flare? Yeah."

"You might want to get it now."

Taking a tentative glance over his shoulder, the blond swallowed a yelp of terror. While he managed to not exude any sound of panic, he did turn rapidly on his toes to face the same direction as Spade and begin digging through his 'Offense' pocket with trembling fingers.

The iron giant they'd been attempting to avoid was cresting the dune.

Its hulking bulk over twenty feet tall and carried on hugely muscled legs, the dark purple beast with its enormous arms, broad chest and squat head lumbered towards them without hurry, each of its huge strides carrying it with impressive speed towards them. Lifting its empty hand to wipe dust from its massive shoulders, sweeping a fine film of sand away from the spiraling curved horns that erupted from either side of its horned head, the monster's metallic grumble danced over the sand as certainly as its humongous silver boots plowed into it.

Lifting its enormous sword with its sharply curved tip, its mass as wide as Spade was tall and longer than both men's heights put together, the giant took one final step forward before bringing its weapon down in a surprisingly rapid stroke.

Once again, Cloud opted for left as Spade sprang right. Fumbling rapidly for his stones, Cloud sank into a crouch and bit his lip, ignoring the sharp tang of the abyss worm's blood that touched his tongue.

Glancing down at Cloud and realizing what he was doing, Spade ran for the iron giant, taking the offense to bide for time. As the beast stepped back and began to rotate its cumbersome body in the Estharian soldier's direction, he dove for the top of the dune and spun on his heel, instantly leaping back at his opponent and swinging with his staff.

Even as Cloud ripped a red stone from his pocket with a grin of accomplishment, the metallic ping of the heavy weighted end of Spade's Meteostaff meeting with the armored leg of the iron giant fell heavily on the air.

"Now!" Spade shouted as he leapt back and fell to the sand.

Throwing his stone with every ounce of his might and a roar on his lips, Cloud fell to the sand as well the moment his fingers released their spherical load.

The extreme heat of the Flare stone shattering as it slammed into the iron giant roared over the sands, catching what little vegetation clung to the desert's surface on fire in an instant. Staggering back a step, the monstrous giant waved its unencumbered hand before its face before dragging it down over its head, attempting to smother the impressive flames that billowed from its frame.

Scrambling to his feet, Cloud dashed for his duffle bag and turned his attention to Spade, his intention to run clear in his actions.

Spade apparently had other ideas – he'd gotten to his feet and, after a momentary stagger under the horrible heat of the slowly dying Flare, readied his staff for another attack.

"What're you doing?" Cloud shouted. "We can escape!"

"We've pissed it off. It'll track us down," Spade yelled back even as he ran back towards the monster and swung his staff again.

Groaning, Cloud dropped his bag and dashed to the soldier's side. "Got'cha, got'cha," he growled as he swung Caladbolg.

Cloud grimaced, his other hand snapping to his sword's hilt to hold onto it tightly as it shook in his hand, the collision of the metal weapon on the metallic monster's armored hide vibrating his sword so sharply he was afraid it'd break. True to form, Caladbolg's quality shined through as it simply shook off the hit and glistened, undamaged and ready for more.

"Strategy, not brute strength!" Spade shouted as his staff made contact with back of the giant's knee.

As the beast staggered momentarily, its fingers spreading and its swing of its sword interrupted by the necessity to regain its balance, Cloud blinked.

"Of course," he mumbled to himself, scowling as he recalled whom exactly he was working with, how he'd been trained, and why SeeDs were so successful and sought after by the rest of the world. "Where to?"

"Follow my lead!" Spade replied quickly, springing back to stand by Cloud, his breath coming to him in heaving pants. "Let's finish this quickly, yeah? We've got a hell of a distance to cover before we can consider bunking for the night."

"Sure thing," Cloud replied.

The monster heaved its weapon to its side, tiny red eyes shining from the helm-like structure that made its face.

Cloud jumped as Spade dove, both narrowly avoiding the iron giant's impressive swing, the whistle of it slicing through the desert air deafening and the pull of the huge sword irresistible as it wrenched the still air into a whirlwind that danced over the dune.

Lurching forward as Spade's heavy staff collided with its ankle, the iron giant's hulking form crouched and its arm flung forward to arrest its fall, it could do nothing to stop Cloud from plummeting onto its broad shoulders. Straddling its head, he brought Caladbolg down as sharply as he could.

It skittered off the rounded dome of the monster's head even as the beast began to right itself.

Off-balance from the bad strike, Cloud cried out as he tumbled from the monster's shoulders, lashing blindly with his sword as he fell and listening as it skittered and sparked, scraping its way down the iron giant's expansive back.

He was able to roll only moments after he slammed into the hard desert sand, narrowly avoiding the giant's wicked sword. Wheezing for breath, he swiftly regained his feet and ran for the monster's legs.

"Spade! You go up! My sword's no good against this thing," he shouted as he battered the back of the giant's knee, tumbling as the hulking creature nearly crumpled on top of him.

Spade only shot him a glance before he quickly lifted his spear to block the massive monster's swing, its sword flung out towards the soldier as it struggled back onto its feet. With a cry the man was lifted off his feet and flung into the dune, his staff flying into the air and crashing down bare inches from him.

A wild curse escaped the blond as he ripped through his pockets again. A blue stone nearly fumbled out of his fingers, gripped tightly and flung with incredible accuracy, and the brilliant blue sphere of Protect burst over the downed brunet's body even as the monster brought its sword down again.

Cloud couldn't help but wince, knowing that while the Protect shielded his partner from the majority of the giant's attack it couldn't stop every iota of damage that would be inflicted. The reverberation of magic fighting off the enormous sword danced through the air accompanied by a sharp cry of pain.

Charging back towards the iron giant, teeth grit and brain singing with assurance that the entire battle was futile, Cloud lifted Caladbolg to slash once more at the giant's legs even as Spade struggled to regain his feet.

The monster's swing of its huge sword swept the Estharian soldier off his feet and threw him once more into the sands even as Cloud's sword crashed into a massive armored calf.

Next thing Cloud knew, he was tumbling through the sand, a horribly sharp pain roaring through his chest and stealing his breath telling him exactly what had happened – the beast had swept him aside with its empty hand, pounding its hand into him with unstoppable force as it attempted to keep its balance. Coming to a halt, he gasped for air, spitting blood onto the golden desert floor as he struggled back onto his feet.

He swallowed a mouthful of bile and blood as he lifted his gaze and beheld the giant lumbering towards him. Reaching into a pocket, he scowled. "Wanted to save this, but I really don't have much choice, do I?"

Even as he lifted a black stone with small white sparkles shining from deep within it, he was hit upside the head with a rock.

Biting back a curse, Cloud glowered in the direction from whence it came, only to see Spade casting him a decidedly ridiculous grin accompanied by a hefted thumb. "Keep that for something hard!" he shouted.

Keeping his mumbling that the ex-SeeD needed a lobotomy to himself, Cloud snorted and rubbed errantly at the spot on his skull where the rock had cracked.

He stared as his fingers came away with soft yellow dust, more fine and iridescent than the desert's sand. Blinking, he noticed the slight yellow flicker that danced at the edges of his vision, nearly overpowered by the faint blue that accompanied the burn of mako on his senses.

Sneering, Cloud gripped his sword tightly with both hands.

As the giant reached him and drew its sword back for another attack, Cloud slammed his sword solidly against the desert floor.

The sand before him burst towards the heavens, the brilliant wave of energy caused by the rapid slash and hard hit burrowing through the ground until it collided with the iron giant in an explosive blast.

As it staggered, Cloud's quickly thrown Blade Beam catching it entirely off guard, the blond launched himself into the air, mako driving him impossibly high, bringing Caladbolg down in a sharp chop aimed not at the center of the huge giant's head but rather at the junction of that domed armored skull and shoulder.

The blade finally bit, sinking into one of the precious few junctions in the creature's armored shell.

Its metallic voice howling, the iron giant dropped its massive sword, reaching towards the blond in a desperate vie to throw him from its frame.

At that very moment, Spade brought his Meteostaff crashing into the front of the creature's knee, throwing it completely off balance. The iron giant toppled face-first onto the sand.

Rolling gracefully away, Cloud turned sharply on his toes and stepped forward, slashing at that one weakness he'd discovered once, twice then three times, each swipe of his notched sword flinging black blood across the sands and biting into nerves and steel-like flesh. As the creature's fingers on its left hand twitched then fell lifeless, the beast snarling into the sands as it lifted its right hand to attempt to push itself upright, the blond quickly slammed the sharp tip of his trusted weapon into the junction between helm-like head and shoulder, cutting into the muscles that drove that arm.

Spade climbed atop the monster's back as Cloud drove his sword as deeply into the tough flesh as he could, lifting his heavy staff high before bringing it crashing onto the iron giant's head with a resounding metallic 'bong.' The creature's body shuddered before it went limp.

Crouching between the iron giant's shoulder blades, Spade smirked as he crooked a finger at Cloud, gesturing for the blond to join him atop the monster.

Once Cloud had joined him, Spade pointed. "See that crevice between the head and the back? Mind jamming Caladbolg's blade in there as hard as you can?"

With a shrug, Cloud complied. He nearly scowled as he felt the blade sink in beautifully, drawing a bubbling well of black blood from the beast's body. The iron giant twitched once more before laying completely still.

"Seriously? It's that simple?" Cloud growled, wiping his brow free of the orange worm-blood that still coated him with his sweaty forearm.

"Yup. That's why I was trying to take its knees. Just wasn't moving fast enough, though. Damned thing kept recovering before I could get it to fall," Spade sighed, his voice light and bordering on jubilant as he grappled with Caladbolg's hilt, trying to push it towards the monster's spine.

"Hey! Don't go breaking my sword," Cloud snarled.

"I'm not. I'm getting the star fragment. Nice little trophy, if I do say so myself. Plus it sells for a nice chunk of gil."

Holding his head, Cloud simply slid off the iron giant's massive corpse and continued to flick stray smears of orange goop from his skin as he meandered to where he'd thrown his duffle bag. Ignoring the triumphant cheer of the Estharian soldier behind him, he located his precious container of belongings and looked at it ruefully. As much as he truly longed to change clothes and wipe himself off, he had a limited supply of goods and was not interested in burning through them in one day. A disgruntled scowl on his lips, he lay down in the sand and took the opportunity to roll in it, letting it adhere to the congealed blood that coated him so he could more easily brush it away rather than smear the thick liquid around on his flesh.

Spade wandered to Cloud's side as he sat in the sand flicking chunks of dirt mired with abyss worm blood from his skin. Dropping his own pack, sand adhered to its every surface due to its previous coating of worm saliva, Spade smirked as he dropped a gooey mess of black lumpy flesh at Cloud's side.

"That's disgusting," Cloud instantly remarked.

"That's because I haven't cleaned the giant brains off of it yet," Spade replied.

They sat side by side on the sand, ignoring the heat of the noon sun as it baked them and everything around them, Cloud picking chunks of sand from every crevice of his body and Spade whittling away at monster flesh with a knife garnered from his pack. Soon they were both staring at the star fragment, sparkling and perfect, resting in Spade's fingers.

"Huh. Wonder why the heck they have a crystal in the form of an eight-point star buried in their brains," Cloud idly remarked as he lifted the fragment from his partner's fingers.

Shrugging, Spade sighed. "They had a book with random tidbits like that in the library at Balamb Garden. I really only read it for information concerning which monster had what items. Skimmed it at best, too. It was on a test." A chuckle rattling his lungs, he winced and rubbed his side. "We should probably get moving again – sure, it's tough going when the sun's high, but if we stick around corpses, monsters will be coming by to investigate. Most've what lives out here survives by scavenging."

"Got it," Cloud replied as he got to his feet. "Need some healing before we head out? I know I've got a hi-potion in here somewhere." With a frown, he began to dig in the pocket he'd reserved for his recovery and status stones along with his few breakable items he dared to keep on his person.

"Keep it, Cloud," Spade replied with a smirk. "I've got elixirs if it gets too bad. You need everything you've got, right? I know for a fact you're not done with your quest for Odine – that list you gave me has an item on it you couldn't have gotten yet."

Cloud scowled brightly. "Yeah. And I need to find someone who can modify cards, too."

"That's easy," Spade replied even as he heaved himself to his feet and began to battle his bag to get it onto his back in a comfortable position once more. "Find the guy with Quezacotl. The Thunder Bird's able to refine cards into items."

"So, you have any clue where that Squall card is?"

"If I did, I'd have told you when you were in the capital," Spade stated blandly even as he began to trek across the sands once more. "I'm not out to screw with you, Cloud. As said, Squall won my respect as my Commander, as a Seed and as one of the few Triple Triad players who can beat me, a Knight of the Card Club. I'd consider him a friend – and you too, through association."

"So not on my own merits?" Cloud inquired with a ghost of a grin gripping his lips as he followed his partner.

"Your card game sucks," Spade shot with a merry laugh.

"Thanks."

"No problem!"

The journey was quiet until the sun began to slink towards the sands before them. Spade had paused long enough to get his uniform helmet from the pack he carried and don it, stating that it was better to suffer the 'dork-hat' than go blind – Estharian helmets, he explained, used crystalline lenses with a specialized structured to diffuse the sun's rays and protect human eyes from the damage the murderously bright light would normally cause. Cloud spent his time grumbling about needing to find another pair of shades some year.

They'd run into a small group of imps, the small purple-bodied, pot-bellied devilish creatures startled from their meal of carrion that remained from the corpse of a fallen torama. Flapping their leathery wings and lashing at the sands with their spade-tipped tails, they'd swiftly turned to face the pair as they'd crested the small dune they'd been walking along. It hadn't taken Cloud and Spade more than a moment to destroy them utterly, two falling to the sharp edge of Caladbolg, one collapsing as its head was caved in by the heavy weighted end of Meteostaff, and the final imp roasting in the hellish heat of a Flare stone thrown by an irate blond who took being bathed in an errantly cast Holy spell by a dying imp as a personal affront.

Rummaging for prizes, all they'd found was a handful of curse spikes and a broken moon stone. Having no further need for the first and the second being useless, they moved on.

It was once the sun had sunk completely and the nearly full moon's light danced over the sands that their journey had gotten interesting once again.

They'd found a rare occurrence in the blisteringly hot desert – a small oasis nestled between two large outcroppings of solid stone.

Cloud and Spade had nearly sung their thanks to whatever God was watching their journey, throwing caution to the wind and descending into what they were certain would be a perfect end to a long and tremulous day.

Nestling down for the night under the stars and the splayed fronds of small trees that cast their shadows over a picturesque pool of crystalline water dappled with lilies and tiny fish, Cloud and Spade in naught but boxers and light t-shirts for sleepwear, the men had a modicum of a watch schedule figured out. Lying on thin blankets procured from Spade's well-stocked bag, bellies filled with the modest ration packs he'd decided to share with his blond partner and the clean water of the oasis, they'd truly sunk into peace and relaxation.

They were more than shocked when the silent darkness was shattered by a raucous bellow of challenge.

Instantly completely awake and aware, both men jolted upright on their blankets and grabbed the weapons that had been lying at their sides. Turning towards the source of the sound, they found themselves staring at a hovering, dusky gray body many times the size of both of them. The plants in the oasis bent under the gusting puffs of movement in the air caused by slowly beating leathery wings with tattered red leather stretching between stiff fingers. Huge clawed hands curled their four fingers, each enormous instrument comically large save for the promise of death they carried. Barely inches above the ground the murderously sharp point of a stinger bobbed, jutting from the thick bulbous sac that hung from the thin waist of the monstrous intruder. Huge yellow horns, their color dulled by the touch of night, curled above cruel red eyes and an enormous projecting lower mandible that thrust forth like an enormous chin.

The elnoyle's eyes weren't focused on them – they were focused on the creature across the pond from it.

Hissing softly, huge mouth sagging open and fangs glistening in the gentle white light of the moon, the massive green bulk of the malboro rose menacingly from the desert, snaking vine-like roots pulling it towards the small oasis and stretched tentacles holding aloft a plethora of little black eyes that stared at their opponent. Grinding the fangs that filled the maw that occupied the vast majority of the bulbous construct of the creature, it unleashed with a screaming chatter of its own, the finned green ears on either side of what could only be construed as its head flaring wide in response to its challenger's roar.

"You know… we might just be in the worst place we could be at in this moment in time," Spade quietly observed.

"You think so?" Cloud softly snapped back.

As more hissing filled the air and not one but rather three malboros crept towards the precious water hole, the two men stared at one another.

"Make a run for it?" Spade suggested.

"Where to? Any exit that might've existed is blocked," Cloud muttered.

"Well, thanks be to Hyne, we have this perfectly good water hole to provide at least a few moments of cover."

Cloud stared at the brunet as if a cactaur had suddenly materialized from the ether and started dancing on Spade's head.

He then cursed loudly and colorfully as Spade grabbed his arm and hauled him along for the ride as he leapt to his feet, dashed the few feet that rested between them and the water's edge, and threw them both into the water.

Cloud's fitful outbursts, both verbal and mental, screamed to a halt as he looked through the crystal clear water towards the heavens only to see a billowing cloud of green fly above the pond to envelop the hovering elnoyle that had decided to wing its way over the pool to meet its monstrous challengers.

Fingers curling tightly around Caladbolg's hilt, Cloud stared at the huge monster above, its wings flapping mightily against the still air, the sickly green cloud of bad breath clinging to its flesh and dripping from it into the water, that poisonous color spreading and fading away as it mingled with the clear liquid.

While he knew that if he were on his world of origin that he could easily take a malboro by himself, upon the new world he claimed as his home he was not nearly so confident – in fact, he doubted that he and Spade together could manage one of the beasts that awaited above the pool's surface.

He remembered the fight that lapsed a year ago, when he'd faced a malboro in the basin that once held Obel Lake. An involuntary shudder raced through his flesh as he remembered slashing at the beast with what he was certain would be more than enough power to dismember the creature, plowing a Blade Beam right through its center, only to have it shriek at him in anger.

No, monsters on his new home world were vastly different than those he'd dealt with at home – some were easy to deal with, the rampaging turtapods and vast hordes of forbiddens he'd demolished through his treks for parts for Odine having been little to no challenge; some were exponentially more troublesome, behemoths considerably more difficult than they'd ever been before, malboros and dragons powerful foes that he feared with every cell of his being. Overall, the power of the monsters he'd been facing was far above and beyond those of his world of origin – at times while wiping sweat and blood from his brow, he'd pondered just how many of this world's foes he and his friends from his past life would have been able to get through before perishing.

The necessity for SeeD to exist was evident simply with the power of the monsters that roamed the world's lands and swam the seas. Those beasts living on the planet's surface since the last lunar cries, the strongest breeding to produce superior offspring to terrorize the world, were all a force to be reckoned with.

He almost shuddered as he pondered exactly how long he could hold his breath and just how attentive the malboro would be to the two men in the oasis' precious water hole when they inevitably had to come up for air.

Sitting side by side at the bottom of the pond, bubbles slowly streaming from their nostrils, the brunet and blond stared at the heavens. Fingers curling around their respective weapons, they met gazes with one another, simultaneously coming to a decision – hiding in the pond had provided a nice momentary reprieve, but it obviously wasn't a long term solution to their dilemma. Pairing a shortness of breath with the fact that there were four monsters waiting above the peaceful water surface, they would have to make some sort of a move.

Cloud arched a brow as he lamely pointed towards the surface and wiggled the fingers of his other hand in a motion meant to denote they should run, concurring with Spade's original assessment and suggestion. Spade all but snorted, a burst of bubbles escaping his nose as he held three fingers aloft, pointed in three different directions, then made a face Cloud assumed was meant to show a comical death.

Crossing his arms, Cloud scowled and shrugged.

Spade grinned and pointed up, then lifted his Meteostaff from the muck of the pond's bottom.

Eyes wide, Cloud circled a finger around an ear while pointing at Spade.

Spade just sneered before flipping his middle finger at his blond partner, getting into a crouch and holding up three fingers once more, gesturing in a direction with his staff.

Realization washed over the blond as he looked up and saw what Spade was indicating. The pond was, in fact, surrounded. The elnoyle swiped at the lead malboro with an enormous clawed hand, its roar muted by the heavy weight of the water the two men were buried in. The malboro it was attacking opened its mouth, its body shaking violently and the air around it veritably dancing with horrible screeching noise. And flanking the pond, sinking the tips of their roots into the crystalline waters, the other two malboros used the distraction provided by their companion to drink from the watering hole in peace. To burst from the pond and run was to have one's back attacked by the two malboros that were actively drinking from the still waters.

He grudgingly realized that Spade's motion to attack the malboro furthest from the embattled elnoyle was the best course of action.

Rising to a crouch, Cloud ducked his head before offering Spade a nod. He held aloft three fingers as well, indicating that he agreed with the countdown.

Simultaneously, they drew a finger down, then another.

When the final finger came down, they burst from the pond.

Only when Cloud pounded Caladbolg into the fanged face of the malboro he'd sprung towards did he realize that Spade had leapt in entirely the opposite direction, engaging the other drinking monster.

"You idiot," Cloud bellowed even as he dashed from the monster he struck, narrowly avoiding its huge teeth as it screeched and lunged in an attempt to eat him. "We should've struck together!"

"What, and have this guy come at our backs?" Spade's jovial voice shouted back moments before he cursed and a splash poured through the air.

Cloud resisted the urge to slap his forehead with the heel of his hand only by keeping all of his fingers involved in the task of holding onto his greatsword's hilt and bringing it to bear against his opponent.

Sweat poured down his temples and his forehead as he stared at the enormous monster, softly glowing blue eyes tainted with mako meeting a plethora of black eyes held aloft in thick green stalks. Facing a malboro by himself was akin to a suicide attack, as he'd discovered during his roves through the Estharian desert. He reached for a stone.

He cursed as he recalled that he was wearing a sleep shirt and boxer shorts, and his stones were in his cargo pants back in his duffle bag.

Fortunately he was paying enough attention to duck and roll across the desert sand with its short, sharply bladed vegetation when the monster's tentacles lurched forward and globules of yellow acid splattered where he'd been standing.

A green cloud poured over him only a moment later.

Staggering, Cloud looked wildly around himself even as he shivered. Malboros were all around him.

With a roar, he charged and swung at the nearest beast, Caladbolg's blue blade slicing through the air.

It hit nothing but sand even as a blast of ear-shattering sound bathed him. Screaming in pain, Cloud turned and swung his sword again, once again finding nothing to hit despite his blade whistling through the image of a huge malboro.

He staggered as nausea overwhelmed him, crackling fire burning under his flesh, poison eating through his veins. His vision, tainted with blue, swam and danced with malboros wavering and viscously oozing over the liquefied landscape as he swung at them with his increasingly heavy sword.

Cloud fell to his knees as yellow acid splattered over his flesh and bore bleeding holes into his skin, biting a shriek of agony back before it could escape him. The multitudes of dancing malboros left his vision, leaving only the two that had been drinking from the waterhole, those two now side by side with their enormous fanged maws twisted into giant grins.

The third malboro in the oasis screamed in the distance. But as Cloud attempted to look towards it, he found the task nearly impossible.

Staring down at his hands, he unleashed with a cry of terror – his fingers, so painfully stiff as he held his sword, were turning gray under the light of the moon. Fine cracks formed over their granite-like surfaces as they refused to answer his desire for them to move.

He couldn't roll, duck, dodge or run when the malboros both unleashed with their thick yellow liquid bursts from their tentacles, the acrid touch burning into what flesh wasn't beginning to turn into stone. Blood spattered on the vegetation that flourished in the oasis and the sand that encroached from the surrounding desert.

A tiny blue bottle flew at his head and burst as soon as it hit him, small slivers of glass digging into his stiffening hair and skin, miniscule droplets of blood forming and skittering along his scalp.

Releasing his sword, he scowled as he swiftly brushed the aggravating shards of glass from his head before springing away from the next burst of horrid sound that rattled the sands.

Turning slightly, he gave a thumbs-up to Spade as the man jogged to his side, any remark he might have been considering shouting his way about how ridiculous he looked wearing a thin t-shirt and boxers with his Estharian armor's shoulder pads tossed to the wind when he noticed the soldier zipping a hidden pocket in one of those shoulder guards shut. Finally aware of where Esthar's soldiers kept their materials in their skin-hugging uniforms, Cloud allowed himself a momentary smirk before turning to face the enemies before him.

His wounds closed, every ailment that beset him with the horrid stench of the malboro's bad breath stripped away and only the hint of dizziness dancing at the edge of his brain from blood loss, Cloud was more than ready to go. However, looking at the two malboros standing side by side, he considered 'ready to go' to be 'ready to grab his things in his arms and run for his life.'

"You thinking grabbing stuff and running for it?" Spade asked a second later.

"Read my mind."

"Think you can carry my pack too?"

"Thinking of creating a diversion, Spade?"

A wild grin crossed the brunet's lips. "Precisely. You can carry more than I can and run just as fast, if not faster, right? But if you go it alone, they're going to spew their breath at you and you're done for. Leave the distraction to me – you get our stuff while the elnoyle works on finishing off big-bad over there, and I'll join you as soon as I can. Run west."

"And west is which direction?"

"Towards the glow that's coming from the Memorial? Duh."

Letting only a mutter of consternation pass his lips coupled by a dire sigh regarding their loss of a fantastic campground, Cloud nodded. "On the count of three?"

"Cool. Three!"

"My count, jackass!" Cloud roared as Spade leapt at the malboros, apparently more than ready to take on the monstrosities. He spent only a moment lunging for his sword before pivoting on his toes to dash for their belongings.

His feet nearly lost traction as he staggered at the edge of the pond, turning sharply to head towards the small encampment he and Spade had set up earlier in the night. Digging a hand into the thick grass that grew atop the soft sands, he sprang from the ground, rolling easily along the springy ground right into their belongings.

Cloud never more swiftly packed away a campsite in his life, everything picked up and unceremoniously shoved into Spade's pack. Setting the bulky sack upright, he stomped every stray article they owned into the pack with his foot, uncaring if anything in that canvas bag's confines was shattered in the process. Once it was compressed, he zipped it shut, threw it onto a shoulder, and snagged his duffle bag.

He ducked, the flash of mako-tainted adrenaline and battle-hardened instincts moving him.

A tentacle from the malboro the elnoyle had been battling flew right where his head had been.

A swiftly executed roll later, Cloud narrowly avoided the spray of sharp malboro fangs that pattered like sharp steak knives in the sands and the broken mandible of the elnoyle that flew in his direction. On his feet, he swung towards the combating monsters, his sword in one hand, his other splayed to his side for balance.

The malboro was writhing in the elnoyle's hands, its massive maw biting desperately at its face and head. The elnoyle was squeezing the malboro's body with every ounce of its strength, its bulbous poison-sack torn from its frame and laying on the ground, its body leaning heavily to its left, its wings so shredded and melted by acid that they could no longer truly hold the massive beast aloft.

Turning away from the monsters that were killing one another, Cloud focused his gaze momentarily on Spade.

The man was hurting, deep wounds eating into his flesh, yellow acid running over his arms and down a leg, blood covering the right side of his face from a sharp scalp wound. Still he wore a bright smile when he noticed Cloud and gestured slightly with his staff to the west.

Nodding, Cloud took off running.

Even as Cloud ran, one malboro turned its attention towards him. Tightening his grip on his sword, the blond pondered whether or not he could outrun the blast of breath he instinctively knew was coming.

That blast never came – the moment the malboro diverted its attention to the fleeing blond, Spade howled and leapt at it, spinning his massive black staff with its enormous silver ball ends rapidly above his head. In a dazzling second he brought it careening off of the malboro's body, then spun it rapidly before him, slamming it into the creature so quickly that its tentacles were cut and hurled away and its green blood splashed across the desert.

Leaping backwards, Spade roared as he hefted his Meteostaff high above his head and flung it before his body – when he landed, he landed on one end of his weapon, his hands gripping the staff tightly below one silver end, his toes coming to touch the top of the vertical staff within the blink of an eye, his full weight crushing that solid metal ball into the ground.

A flash of light burst from the staff's end, huge chunks of stone that burned with hellish heat flying from the impact to pound into both malboros.

As they recoiled and howled, lashing their tentacles and writhing to smother the fires that spread over them, Spade hopped off the top of his weapon and pulled it out of the ground. Chasing after Cloud, his breath coming in labored gasps, the brunet swiftly reopened the hidden pocket in his shoulder pad and wrenched another small square blue-labeled bottle free of its confines. A moment to simply crush it in his hand, uncaring about the slivers of glass that dug into his flesh, he caught up with his fleeing blond partner.

"Thank goodness for those elixirs," Cloud gasped as they charged over the sands, racing away from the fading sounds of enraged monsters.

"Yeah. I'm suddenly not so upset that I wasted part of my paycheck on them three weeks ago," Spade replied with a grin.

They didn't stop running until they were completely out of breath, surrounded by nothing but sand and out of range of even the slightest hint of sound from the malboros and the monster battle they'd left in their wake.

Setting up camp once more, this time setting one blanket up as a makeshift cover and both sharing the other, they settled down to sleep.

The next day they finished the long trek to the Sorceress Memorial.

Heaving huge sighs of relief, the pair slumped simultaneously as their eyes took in the sprawling complex. "Finally," Spade muttered.

"Tell me about it. Now I can unload most of this junk on that wacky little scientist – maybe he can get started with what I've got," Cloud grumbled. "Then it's back to the drawing board, trying to find whoever the hell's got the Squall card."

"If I hear anything, I'll let you know," Spade stated with an easy wave of his hand. "You've got a cell phone these days, right?"

Digging in a pocket, Cloud found it and tossed it to the brunet, catching it as it was tossed back moments later – a quick glance at it left his lip twisting towards a smirk as he noticed he had a new number in his address book. "The Handsome and Mighty Spade? Really?"

"Fitting, I know, I know."

Rolling his eyes, his breath escaping him as an exacerbated huff rather than the laugh that was desperately trying to escape him, Cloud sneered. "Let me guess. You put me in your phone as Chocobo Head?" he asked, sweeping his fingers through his naturally spiked hair, fluffing his bangs towards the heavens without thought or care.

"Nah. Malboro bait."

"… You're an ass."

"Kidding! It's That Knight Guy, actually."

"I have a name."

"Right, right." Looking over his phone, Spade smirked. "That Knight Guy Cloud. Better?"

"Guess it's the best I can expect from you, isn't it?" Cloud stated, his voice as bland as he could force it to be.

"Better believe it," Spade replied, his tone flippant.

"Cloud!"

Both Spade and Cloud turned sharply, staring at the entrance to the Memorial and its wide-open doors.

"Laguna?" Cloud asked, his eyes springing wide open.

"Sir! What are you doing out here away from your security detail?" Spade bit, his eyes narrowed, his joking demeanor instantly shed. Cloud blinked and stared at the soldier, shocked by the stark difference.

Almost recoiling from the ex-SeeD, Laguna offered a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head, his sandal-clad feet digging into the sand, his free hand tugging at the set of dog-tags that dangled along the open collar of his button-up blue shirt before ducking into the pocket of his khaki knee-length shorts. "I'm out here for… a surprise inspection? It's one of my duties as President to ensure things are running smoothly at all of Esthar's remote institutes, after all!"

"And where's Mr. Seagill?"

"Um… back at the Palace," the President muttered.

Crossing his arms, stomping over to stand before the man who was his Commander in Chief, Spade all but hovered over him, glowering down at Laguna as the President ducked under the angry dark stare. "Sir, you know you aren't supposed to be outside of the Palace, inspection or not, without your security detail. As I don't see Mr. Zabac, I doubt they're even aware that you're away. And without Mr. Seagill here, I know this is no inspection. So what are you up to?"

Cloud bit his tongue, crossing his arms and smirking as he watched the exchange, highly amused as the soldier laid into his boss as if he were a child caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

Bowing his head, almost shrinking under the weight of Spade's business-flooded stare, Laguna gulped and simpered. "I was checking on him. Surely I don't need my security detail for that."

"I can assure you that the Sorcerer's still asleep," Spade muttered, stepping away from the President and rubbing his head.

"Yeah," Cloud offered with a shrug as he approached. "But that doesn't mean he doesn't worry," he uttered a moment later, thumping a fist on Spade's shoulder even as he nodded in Laguna's direction.

"Still-"

"Spade, can I talk with President Loire for a moment?"

Blinking, the Estharian soldier looked at Cloud for a moment, questions burning in his eyes. A sigh escaped him before he shook his head. "Alright, alright. But right after your little chit-chat, the esteemed President Loire's going to be escorted right back to the Palace where he belongs."

"Sure thing. We can use whatever vehicle he brought out here," Cloud said with a sneer.

"You know, that's a fantastic idea. I think I'm going to go confiscate that piece of equipment."

As Spade walked away, purpose and suppressed anger in his stride, Laguna shuddered. "Great. Kiros is never going to let me hear the end of it if Spade reports that I took a Palace VIP car without authorization."

The words that had been on Cloud's lips fell away in that moment as his train of thought was derailed by the President's mumbled confession. "Why aren't you authorized to come out here, sir?" he asked instead.

Giving an easy shrug, Laguna rubbed the back of his head once more. "Some news is circulating out there that someone's after my life."

Cloud's right eye twitched.

"In fact, after a sniper tried to take a shot at me during my last motorcade transit to the Airstation to receive the Balamb ambassador – we were going to have a bit of discussion concerning our trade agreements that are coming to expiration and see about modifying and renewing them, you see – Ward has joined Kiros in trying to keep me sequestered to the Palace. It's quite dreadful."

Lifting his hand, Cloud pressed the heel of his palm to his eye and dug his fingers into his bangs. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"But no one even noticed me leaving the Palace this morning! And I haven't seen Squall in months. I just wanted to make certain he's still okay. I mean, I get the reports and everything, but reading a report and seeing him are two entirely separate things."

"Sir-"

"But boy, are you lucky that we ran into each other," the President continued without noticing the attempt at interruption. "Professor Odine's been working away at that inhibitor thingamabob that we're going to give Squall, you know! And you're here! That must mean you're done."

"Almost."

Laguna's lips fell from their hopeful smile as the word pummeled him. "A-Almost?"

"Yeah. Got one left. And I need to find a card refiner."

"Oh…" Laguna sighed deeply as his shoulders slumped.

Shaking his head, Cloud stuffed his hands in his pockets and chewed on his lower lip. "Look, President Loire… I'm going to get them. He'll be free. I'm not going to let him stay imprisoned here longer than necessary." Looking to the Memorial, a shudder racing under his skin, he scowled darkly as his voice dropped, his mutter more for himself than anyone around him. "He's cold. He's lonely. And above all, he's not happy. I'm not going to let him stay that way."

Cloud almost jumped as Laguna's hand clamped solidly onto his shoulder. "You want to see him?"

Pondering it for a moment, Cloud shook his head.

He knew, just as he knew the first time he'd pondered visiting the Memorial when he was set to leave Esthar, that once he saw his charge he'd not leave the foreboding prison before him without the Sorcerer in tow.

"Better that I not right now," Cloud replied. "Besides, the less time I spend dawdling, the more quickly I can get everything Odine asked for. As a matter of fact, I was coming here to drop off what I've already managed to gather."

"Well, then maybe it truly is a huge stroke of luck that we ran into each other," Laguna stated with a smirk. "You didn't know that the good Professor's back in his Laboratory in Esthar, then."

"He's back in Esthar? Good!" Spade shouted over the noise of the Palace VIP vehicle as he started it up and its massive turbine engine came up to speed, spewing warm air through its exhaust pipes and stirring the desert sands. "Then I can drop Cloud off as I return you to the Palace."

Cloud granted the ex-SeeD a small grin and a nod even as Laguna whined at his side that he didn't want to go back to the Palace quite yet, that he wanted to go to a bar that evening to get some drinks, and that Ward wouldn't let him watch the Balamb Lions versus the Galbadia Gators football game because he'd lost television privileges with the last time he'd snuck away from his security detail.

"Tough, Mr. Loire. Get in the car."

Whimpering, the President crawled into the back even as Cloud tossed his belongings into the ample trunk and took the passenger seat.

The rest of their journey was filled with nothing but the heavy thump of energetic dance music and the growl of the car's engines, the turbine's inaudible whine keeping the desert's monsters miles away.

_-to be continued-_

A/N: Let it be known that it's virtually impossible to type a battle sequence when listening to the Pinkie Pie "Smile, smile, smile" song from My Little Pony.

And as a side note, let me simply say this – the monsters in FF8 do, in fact, have a heck of a lot more hit points than the monsters in FF7 when at like levels (obviously I'm not going to compare a level 100 FF8 malboro to the standard level 44 FF7 malboro – because 146,000hp to 4,400hp is ridiculous. But at level 1, the FF8 malboro has 1,410hp. Yeah, over a quarter of the hp and they're less than a fortieth of the levels). It simply helps that you can junction your characters so they hit like freight trains that makes the monsters less than challenging. :P


	4. Held to the Light

Alright, considerably less action for a little while. At least, this chapter. Because damn it all, a plot erupted at the end of the last chapter and it's demanding development. Bad plot bunny. I must find a broom to smash it with.

Disclaimer: I in no way own any portion of the Final Fantasy franchise except the spiffy stuff I've purchased over the years and the Squall plushie that accompanies me on deployment for snuggling purposes. Nor do I own any song by the Smashing Pumpkins, especially not 'Tonight, Tonight' which provides not only the lyrics that became chapter titles for this story but also inspiration for this fic. Please don't sue – I'm simply an E6 in the Navy, and therefore I have no money. Ha.

_-BEGIN FIC-_

Chapter 4  
Held to the Light

_How many times have I poured through the Past? How many times have I questioned the Present? I've lost track._

_I have seen her, radiant and beautiful, her white wings spread and her arms raised to the heavens. Sorcery dances around her frame, lighting her in heaven's fire as she channels Hyne's might and brings it to the planet._

_I have touched her, warm and soft as she's sprawled on our bed, her dark brown hair covering our pillow and her alabaster skin surrounded by crumpled sheets._

_I have loved her so deeply that I had given my soul to her when she became the Sorceress, giving my eternal freedom away to be her Knight._

_I have watched her die again and again, an agonizing dream that I so wish were fantasy._

_But in that dream, my heart finds freedom. While my heart bleeds unending sorrow and pain with her loss, it finds no qualms with feeling faint relief with freedom's return. But in that moment where I find freedom, I ensnare another and strip that one's freedom in turn._

_While I never regretted my sacrifice of freedom, I do not know if the one whose freedom I've stolen can claim the same attitude – I've not had the opportunity to ask, to interact, to truly impress upon him what crimes I have committed and how I'm no different than the ones he's known in his wretched past. I cannot hear my Knight. I cannot feel him._

_Will I be damned for what I have done? Only Time can be the judge of that – whether I will be damned or forgiven will be determined when the Past and the repercussions of it are held to the light._

* * *

Cloud pried his eyes open, a frown upon his lips.

The dream he'd awakened from was hardly pleasant. He'd been dreaming of the past, of his battles with Sephiroth on his world of origin, of his companions left on the Planet damaged by Jenova and by Omega Weapon.

Rubbing his temple, Cloud sighed as he shut his eyes tightly and scowled. "C'mon. That life's over and done," he muttered to the still air in the room. "Even if I had a choice, I'm not going back – Squall needs me here. That's why I accepted the job of being his Knight. And I'm his Knight until I die."

Shaking his head sharply, he winced as his neck popped and errantly rubbed his neck.

He couldn't begin to comprehend why he was having the odd dreams he'd been having. The disturbance in his mind caused by his bond with his Sorcerer hadn't changed much over the last year, the sensations of cold, of loneliness, of destitution and buried regret, of vivid worry smothering a tiny flicker of selfish desire and want, still remained constant. They flickered and shifted, each emotion Cloud could segregate from the cluster of confused feelings that danced barely within his reach with his close proximity to the Sorceress Memorial strengthening or weakening dependant on whatever was going through the sleeping Sorcerer's mind, but there was no remarkable shift that would indicate that Squall was stirring from his slumber, that Cloud was being directed to accomplish something in particular, that the younger man was aware of his Knight's proximity at all.

Cloud stretched an arm over his head even as he used his free hand to dig to the bottom of his duffle bag, fingers sliding between folded shirts, pants, socks and underwear that had recently been laundered.

Soon he found the journal he sought. Moments later, he was lying back on his bed and reading the final two entries in it once more.

A frown turned his lips as he considered his dreams, his brain pondering possibility after possibility. Were his odd dreams due to his proximity to his Sorcerer? Did they spring from their bond and the younger man's buried worry? Even as realization slowly burned through Cloud's mind, he shook his head – if his dreams were in fact due to his bond, if the contents of the journal in his hands still swam through the Sorcerer's mind, Cloud realized he'd have a lot to discuss with his charge when he finally managed to wrench the other free of his prison. "You're nothing like Jenova. I'm not your Knight because you want me to help you – I'm your Knight because I want to be your Knight. Even if I had no idea what it meant at first… I don't regret it," he muttered, both to himself and to the one who rested miles away, the simple verbal acknowledgement more for his own comfort than anything. Putting the journal down on his chest, its final writings pressed against his skin above his heart, he laid his hand on its worn spine. "You fought because I needed you to, and I'm doing what I'm doing now because you need me to. Our fates are intertwined for the rest of our lives. And you're going to have to deal with it."

The darkness of the predawn day slowly slipped away as the sun crested the desert to the east, its orange early-morning rays dancing through the window of Cloud's hotel room. As his clock ticked off minutes, the blond realized that sleep would not come again to him and decided against his internal arguments to attempt to find a dreamless slumber to rise for the day.

After sorting through his belongings and choosing a simple black t-shirt with his black cargo pants and trusty boots, Cloud ventured from the hotel into the already noisy and bustling sprawl of Esthar's capital city.

His hotel was right off the shopping district – a convenient location, if ever there was one. His card had been recently recharged, Spade having split the spoils from some of the gear he'd picked up during their desert hike in payment for the aid Cloud had inadvertently provided him in locating the duty-dodging President and returning him to the Palace. The Palace had also offered him a reward, which he bashfully accepted only due to the fact that his funds were in fact hardly substantial.

He'd arrived in the early evening in Esthar, Spade having swung the vehicle Laguna had absconded with by Odine's Laboratory and instructed Cloud to come by the Palace when he was done so they could wrap up their business. While Cloud had pondered exactly what Spade was talking about, him having considered their business complete with the ex-SeeD's successful escorting of his person to the Sorceress Memorial and now to the Professor he was actually looking for, he didn't bother voicing his questions and instead agreed to do so once he concluded with the wily scientist.

His meeting with Odine wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Vat do you mean you haz had problems with the task? Iz it too difficult for you, Knight?" the man had howled when Cloud revealed that in fact he had only three of the six items he'd been tasked to acquire on his person, he had cards for two others and the final card was eluding him.

"Hey, if it was easy, you wouldn't have had to contract me to get them for you," Cloud had snapped back, clinging possessively to the cards he knew he needed to have in order to attain the knight's code and the moon curtain Odine had requested. "Besides, I've got the cards."

"A card iz worthless! You know zat I need ze pieces. And you bring me cards!" Stomping a foot, the doctor had veritably danced in place, flinging his arms to his sides in disgust as he turned sharply, nearly tripping over his floor-length blue robes as he stormed back to the panels he'd been monitoring.

Cloud had rubbed his head, pacing a small circle around the green track of carpet that took the middle of the laboratory's observation room before walking to the huge window that took a wall and leaning against it, glowering down into the room below, staring at the workers bustling around a small table that had been set there and carried a small silver bangle on its smooth black surface. "Look, I have it from a reliable source that all I need is to have these cards refined, and they'll produce the items you need. I thought you were the leading world expert on Guardian Forces and their abilities. You apparently created a machine that can duplicate some woman's ability to throw consciousnesses throughout time and space and actually allow someone to have some impact on the past. Are you telling me you can't reproduce a Guardian Force's ability to modify items?"

Doctor Odine had sputtered violently as he'd turned to face Cloud, his face nearly as red as the blood-hued coloring that was woven into the huge ruffled collar that circled his neck. "You… impudent…!" Veins verily protruding from his forehead, he roared at Cloud to leave his lab and not dare to return until he had what he needed, his screaming decaying into threats to not bother completing the inhibitor bracelet in question.

Cloud had very nearly lost it – it took the lab security to hold him back, his barely maintained awareness of where he was and who surrounded him keeping him from drawing Caladbolg free of its sheath and laying waste to those who dared to lay their hands on him. Still, his sharp surge of rage had the desired effect – the Doctor had swallowed his words with a sharp gulp and backed away, pressing his back against the panel he'd been flipping through screens on.

"You will make this inhibitor. It will be made correctly. Or the Sorcerer's not the one you're going to have to fear – it's going to be me," Cloud had softly promised, his voice muted with anger. "I'll get your items. Just have some damned patience when you're asking for the impossible – results take awhile."

Having turned sharply on his heel, he'd stormed from the room and veritably flung himself onto the lift that carried him down to the laboratory's entrance. There the guards that had tasked themselves with ensuring he left without demolishing the place had granted him surprisingly sympathetic smiles.

Flanked by the two men who wore their Estharian army uniforms without much of the primness of the regular unit soldiers that roved the capital city, Cloud had crossed his arms moodily and reflected on the source of his consternation.

Doctor Odine, the wild manic genius of Esthar, had never sat well in Cloud's heart. In far too many ways, the crazed man invoked black memories from the hazed shadows of the distant past, of a scientist in a white lab coat who cackled brilliantly as he typed on his computer and tried to aid his son in completing his journey to godhood.

One was responsible for so many affronts to Cloud and the Planet of his past that he couldn't be colored by the blond as anything but wicked. His revolutionary research and experimentation had provided the monopolistic Shin-Ra Electric Company with its invincible SOLDIER personnel, had driven Mako research and utilization. That one had so lost his mind and sank into the insanity of genius that he experimented on himself, infusing himself to make himself as he'd made so many others, throwing his humanity away and embracing all that was monstrous and wicked in his heart and body as he made possible the destruction of the shield that held North Crater's sanctity intact and wished his ultimate creation luck in destroying the world. That one had grappled with Cloud's fate and infused him with poisonous mako and Jenova's cells in an effort to clone the deceased Sephiroth that he held was the perfect SOLDIER, the ultimate compilation of his efforts and greatest success. That one had dubbed Cloud a failure, a refuse product not worthy of even an identification number to mark him as a product of his experimentations.

The other was responsible for so many affronts to the world Cloud now inhabited and the people the blond held as dear that he couldn't be defined as anything but evil in the Knight's mind. Siding with the leadership of his nation when it was under the sway of a Sorceress who reigned with might and spread her troops throughout the world in a campaign to claim the nations of the world as her own through terror and destruction, the wild scientist had done all in his power to aid her – he'd been instrumental in creating the vastly powerful cyborgs that accompanied the human soldiers of the army, in creating the impressive technology that allowed his nation to master space travel, in creating the ungodly device that could grapple with the power of the monster-infested moon and artificially create its most devastating events; his technological expertise helped form the weapon that would bring the Lunar Cry, the horrible travesty that destroyed all civilization on the once whole Centra continent, to a target of choice decided on by Lunatic Pandora's operators. That one had headed the search for the girl who would make possible Time Compression, eagerly seeking to serve the one who ruled his nation without care to the fate of the world. He had stolen children in the night, holding them captive and subjecting them to torturous experimentation until he had found the one he was seeking. And if the tales woven by the SeeDs Cloud had spoken to were true, in the future the madman would create a machine that would replicate that woman's power, making possible Ultimecia's near-destruction of all existence that would be halted only by the extraordinary efforts of Squall and his gathering of friends, their departure for the future from the years of the past using Laguna's strong-arming of Odine to make possible their journey using his machines having been all that saved the world.

While Cloud was certain Squall would have lectured him about classifying people as 'good' or 'evil' when the Sorcerer held that no such ideals truly existed, Cloud refused to let those classifications fade from his conscience. While he knew that good and evil depended on the viewpoint of the person who was assigning the label, he refused to toss his belief in the overarching ideals of righteousness and wickedness fade. So in his mind, he clearly put Hojo and Odine in the same category – evil as can be, despicable and deplorable representatives of humanity, topped on his 'people I most loath in his universe' list only by Reno, Seifer Almasy and Rufus Shinra.

He ground his teeth as the lift finally settled on the first floor of the laboratory and got to his feet, rubbing his temple. "Sorry about that up there," he muttered to the guards, "but that bastard doesn't appreciate the hell I've been through to get what I've gotten. To think that he'd not make the inhibitor…."

"Ah, don't worry about it. The Doctor will do what he's supposed to. He can't bring himself to fail in a task – it'd be a smear on his professional image," one of the men had stated.

The other had clasped Cloud's shoulder before chuckling. "You've just got to take everything he says with a grain of salt. He's an aggravating little shit, wouldn't you say?"

"Got that right," Cloud snorted, shaking his head. "I can't believe a man like that has the President's trust."

Both guards had laughed even as they left the lift and walked with the Knight to the exit of the laboratory, emerging onto the bridge that would carry him to the skyway and its lift tubes. "He hardly has the President's trust," one of them had confided with a grin. "President Loire keeps him close so he can monitor everything this crazy bastard does."

"Yeah, I don't think President Loire's truly forgiven him for everything he did to his Ellone all those years ago," the other chimed in. "Doctor Odine's is a genius to be recognized and respected – that genius doesn't mean he's necessary good, though."

"Got that right," Cloud had snorted softly. "Well, have a nice evening," he'd stated to wrap up their conversation before he'd turned and wandered to the skyway and proceeded to take the right-side lifts to the Palace.

Once there, he'd managed to find Spade among the throng of soldiers and civilians in front of the Palace's main entrance. The man had greeted him with a lift of a hand and an escort to the President's aide, who had offered Cloud a gilcard with a substantial reward on it in thanks for assisting in the safe return of their beloved President.

After claiming his prize, Spade had dragged him out into town to drink the night away, get some gil from selling to the shops, and secure Cloud a hotel room.

He'd woken on his second day in Esthar with a mild hangover, the sickly sweet taste of the night's expulsions on his tongue and no memory of how he'd managed to find his way to his surprisingly soft bed.

That day he'd simply lounged in his room, relaxing and recovering from the trials of his journey to arrive. He'd also spent his time pondering exactly what he was to do and where he would go next.

Once again, his journey had lead to a dead-end. He knew what he needed, but he had no leads to follow.

It was when he'd awakened on the third day and poured through Squall's journal that realization hit him – he did, in fact, have a lead. Diamond had mentioned it.

Jack, a Card Club member he'd never met, had left the Garden and was now working at the Town Gate Garage in Balamb. Jack had been the last member of the Card Club to know the whereabouts of the Squall card.

His mood lifting significantly, the anger he still carried buried in his brain towards the professor who reminded him far too much of shadowy figures in his past that he preferred to let rot in the mire of the past, he hit the shops hard.

He'd dropped his boots off at Johnny's shop to get them resoled, accepting a pair of slip-on loafers to wander in for a few hours. Next he went to Karen's shop right next door and picked up a few new shirts and a new pair of shorts, finding a pair in blue with a plethora of zippered pockets to compliment the khaki shorts and the three pairs of cargo pants he already owned. Crossing the street, he'd browsed Cheryl's shop and spent a few gil on five more hi-potions and a phoenix down. Finally, he'd hit up the shop he was always leery of.

The proprietor gave him a wide and toothy grin from behind the holographic display that scrolled through available items and their prices. "Why, if it isn't the man named after my shop!"

Scowling, Cloud snorted. "How many times do I have to tell you, old man? I am not named after a shop. I'm named after… well, clouds."

Laughing outright, the wrinkled old man behind the counter shook his head. "C'mon, kid. You need a sense of humor."

"Sorry. Been busy lately – guess I left my humor behind in the desert."

Smirking, the old man typed on a tablet behind the counter. "Then maybe this will raise your spirits."

Cloud blinked as the screen flickered and the image of a gift-wrapped box topped with a bow appeared with the words 'Here you go!' Moments later, the sliding drawer under the holographic display opened, a small square-shaped bottle with green liquid in it sparkling under the shopping district's garish turquoise lighting.

Staring, Cloud lifted the x-potion from the drawer. "You-"

"Yours, Cloud. A gift."

Blinking, stunned clean of words, Cloud nodded as he shoved the small bottle into one of his pockets. "Thanks," he managed to bring himself to utter a moment later.

"Just remember that I have better prices and a greater selection than Cheryl over there," the old shop-keep said with a wink.

The ploy suddenly became clear to him. Cloud's lips twisted into a smile of their own accord as he chuckled, the sound soft and almost lost to the bustle of the shopping area. "What, securing the business of your shop's name-sake?"

"This shop was named 'Cloud's Shop' long before I ever met you," the man said with a smirk as he brought his shop's inventory list back up.

"I know that," Cloud muttered, distracted as he put his gift away. Then with more focus directed to the man behind the counter, he arched a brow and asked, "How is it that you remember me every time I pass through here, anyway?"

"Come now. Who could forget that hair?"

With a scowl, Cloud punched his finger next to the name elixir on the holographic screen. "Two of these," he groused even as he subconsciously ran his fingers through his natural spikes, not for the first time wishing they'd stay down without the smothering weight of gel drowning his scalp.

"Got it," the old man said with a smirk. "Swipe your card."

Swiping his card in the glowing green track that beeped at him, Cloud swiftly gathered the small square blue bottles that were in the sliding drawer when it opened this time around and shoved them in his pocket. Turning away, he offered the man only a wave before wandering away.

"See you again soon, Cloud!" the proprietor called after him.

Cloud tried not to smile even as he knew the man was correct in his assumption.

The rest of his day was spent wandering throughout the vast city, getting small treats at various roadside venders on the skyway. After an hour or two wasted relaxing in a park located on the ground-level of the layered city's metropolitan spread, he said goodbye to the dog he'd been playing fetch with and let the animal return to its proper owner, wished the young boy who ruffled his dog's ears a good day, and returned to Johnny's shop to reclaim his boots.

Checking his card, he sighed.

"So I need to get another job or two before I can track down Jack," he muttered quietly.

While he had indeed spent a couple thousand gil in the shops acquiring items and clothing he needed, it hadn't been nearly enough spent to eliminate his ability to buy a ticket. The price of transportation to Balamb was already far more than he could afford.

After all, with two long train rides at a minimum if he was willing to splurge on a rent-a-car to transit between far-off stations, four if he was not, the journey was not short or easy. And while he could charter a boat, the cost of water-borne transportation was even more exorbitant. Given the cost and his penchant towards seasickness, sea travel was the last option Cloud would dare consider. Air travel was considerably cheaper than travel by sea, but Cloud couldn't bring himself to trust flying on a vessel that bore no resemblance to the mighty airships he'd ridden on nor to the piloting skills of commercial pilots – while the air-travel safety record was toted as higher than that of the nations' highways, it was readily squashed by trains and boats. Cloud was less than willing to put his safety and thereby the safety of his Sorcerer at risk by chancing what he saw as a deathtrap toted as a form of transportation.

Even as he wandered the streets in his newly resoled boots with his purchases in a bag under his arm, he headed to one of the many cyber-bars on the ground level of Esthar and began to scroll through classified ads.

Finding a few promising prospects and recording their numbers in his phone after he'd noted the time and decided against disturbing people during dinner, Cloud spent the rest of his dwindling evening hours drowning his boredom in beer and supplementing it with a meat-stuffed wrap, a pile of supremely spicy chicken wings and fries.

Leaving once the sun had set, he began to make his way back towards the lift that would carry him back to the shopping district and his hotel room.

His journey was interrupted by the sound of cheering and howling deep in a side alley.

His curiosity getting the best of him, Cloud ducked into the alley to investigate the racket.

As he peered around the edge of a building, he found himself staring at a run-down and dingy warehouse, amber light pouring from behind its wide-open doors. A huge crowd was gathered within its confines, fists raised to the air and cheers mingling with cries of dismay. A small gathering of men wandered outside of the building, their eyes shifty and their hands remaining near their waistbands.

Cloud narrowed his eyes as one of those wandering men looked right at him and recoiled, the soft glow of mako giving away his location. Deciding against raising any sort of ruckus that might end poorly for him, Cloud slid his hands into his pockets and emerged from the dark alley he'd been watching from.

He was instantly flanked by three men, all sporting narrowed and leery eyes as they looked him up and down.

Cloud drew his hands from his pockets and spread his fingers, palms up. "Unarmed, guys," he quietly stated.

While the Knight did not have his sword, him having left Caladbolg in his hotel room that morning, he did in fact have a pocket full of magic stones and his inhuman strength. He was more than confident he could get away if things got ugly, his calm and lack of concern not at all forced as he stood in the center of agitated armed men who were undoubtedly breaking some Estharian law.

"What's yer business here?" one growled.

"Just seeing what's up."

The answer was apparently not what they were looking for. Two of the three growled as their hands began to slide towards poorly hidden side arms.

Cloud simply arched a brow as he glanced to his left and his right, one hand balling into a fist at his side.

"Hey fellas! Don't mind him. This guy's with me."

All four of the men started, eyes springing wide and hands twitching violently towards weapons if such were to be had.

"Ahem. I'd not, gentlemen. Ya'll don't wanna go rilin' me up. As said, this guy's with me, and we've got a match we want to put some gil on. So if you fine men wouldn't mind getting on with your evening, it'd be much appreciated."

As the heart-stopping 'kachunk' of a heavy rifle bolt being rammed back into place filled the suddenly still dark atmosphere, the three men who'd surrounded Cloud backed away, their stances tense and eyes flooded with fright.

Cloud turned on his heel, staring into the darkness. "How the hell do you do that?" he breathed, his nerves only beginning to still as he set his eyes on the glimmering silver of an enormous gun held in slender pale fingers. While his heart still thundered from the shock of having the man with that gun and his rich baritone voice sneak up on him utterly undetected, the blond couldn't help but smile.

Emerging completely from the shadows of the alley that had hidden him from discovery, his brown leather boots finally making sound as he strolled with a casual swagger to Cloud's side, Irvine Kinneas let Exeter swing carelessly to his side and lifted a hand to sweep long auburn bangs away from his face. "Training, my friend. They don't call me the best for nothing." A cocky wink of an amethyst-hued eye accompanied a long and languid smile. "So, what're you doing in these parts, Mr. Strife? I didn't expect to see hide nor hair of you again since we parted ways last year, truth be told."

"What, disappointed that we've run into each other?" Cloud replied with a slight smirk, falling completely at ease as the armed sniper set a hand on his shoulder and began to lead him towards the warehouse he'd been intending to investigate.

"Not at all! Just surprised is all. After all, when we last saw each other, it was… well, let's simply say none of us would've been shocked if we were fated to never meet again, if you catch my drift."

"Yeah, understood," Cloud replied quietly, his eyes closing in silent reflection.

The last time he'd seen Irvine Kinneas had indeed been a year ago, when he and his Sorcerer had battled Sephiroth and Jenova and the SeeDs who called Squall friend had come to help.

While Knights had battled in the basin that remained of Obel Lake once the water from its depths had been evaporated by a devastatingly powerful Blasting Zone attack and the Sorcery-wielding combatants had taken to the air, the four SeeDs Cloud had come to know during his imprisonment on Balamb Garden as Squall's most faithful friends had taken to battle against the monsters that would interfere in the fights that raged, keeping those beasts that fled the raging fires that ravaged the land at bay with weapon and magic. When the battles had spiraled beyond control, the moon bathing in blood in the sky as Sorcerer and Jenova-infested Sorceress drew its power to destroy, the sniper himself had brought the chaos to an end – it had been his gun that had brought down Jenova, blasting her vessel's skull to pieces and ending her new life with one incredibly accurate and horribly powerful shot.

Irvine and Selphie had last been with Cloud on that peninsula where the trials and tribulations of Squall's quest for revenge had finally been realized, the pair having waved goodbye as Cloud carried Squall onto the _Rapture_ that had flown to them from Esthar. They'd returned to their Garden, part of the organization that was dedicated to hunting those Sorcery wielders who would threaten the world, to their lives as SeeDs.

"Still ain't answered my question, friend," Irvine mentioned after a few moments of silence.

"Oh," Cloud started, drawn sharply from his reflections and shaking his head. Casting a glance over the tall man that strolled at his side, he smirked. "Quistis and Zell tell you the solution we came to concerning-"

"Yes. Words of wisdom, my friend – take care of what you say out in public, yes?"

Blinking, Cloud frowned. "Sorry."

"Still workin' on it?" the cowboy asked a second later, the sharp bite of his last statement completely faded and the lackadaisical quality that put the Knight at ease returning.

"Sure am," Cloud replied. "So… been up to much over the last year?"

"This and that," Irvine stated with a smile. "Must say that time's treated you pretty well. 'Least, you don't look so downtrodden and sad as last time I saw you."

"Downtrodden and sad? I didn't think I looked that way. Unless, of course, you're talking about the time with the paper boxers."

"Yup. And afterwards as well. I'm sorry to say, Zell's cloths didn't fit you so well. Those pants looked painfully tight."

A snort escaped the blond as he shook his head. "You know, I'd almost forgotten about all of that. Thanks for the reminder, Mr. Kinneas."

"Here to be of service," the tall man said with a smile, lifting his hand to his brow and offering a tiny salute.

Finally letting his eyes rove over his newest companion in the night, Cloud found that he couldn't keep the smile that longed to form from taking his lips.

Time certainly had changed them both.

Cloud's appearance was much the same, the experiments he was subjected to as a teenager arresting some of his development and the progression of age having placed him in that time of stagnation so far as physical changes were concerned. His general apathy towards fashion and fads had kept him from altering the styling of his hair, letting nature take its course and keeping it just as wild and spiked as it had ever been – while a bit longer than it had been when he'd first arrived at Balamb Garden, he had taken measures to keep it under some semblance of control, attacking it with scissors every few months without any attempt to style or shape it; he'd learned long ago that such efforts would be utterly futile. Even his clothes hinted at his lack of caring about the wiles of civilization – he'd taken to wearing nothing but cargo pants, relishing the plethora of pockets for convenient storage of essential items during battle. His shirts were a smorgasbord of white or black t-shirts, tank tops and the occasional zip-up ribbed sweatshirt without sleeves. He oft times sported a denim jacket for when the weather had a bit of a bite to it, or a trench coat when temperatures plummeted or it was rather wet outside. His feet were never without either his trusty black motorcycle boots he'd grown to so love or his white sneakers.

No, what had changed drastically was Cloud's outlook on life. A year without the weight of the past that had clung to him on his world of origin, with nothing but the past that had begun when he'd appeared on Balamb Garden and become the Sorcerer's Knight, had levied his soul considerably. He had come long ago to realize that for the first time in ages he truly had purpose and a definition of self, and joy came to him in that realization. He was no longer an undefined being, uncertainty about his validity as a human wafting about him due to his clouded origins and shadowed memories crushed by the confusion of mako poisoning, Jenova-infestation and time. He had a solid sense of self – he was the Sorcerer's Knight, defender of the one Sorcerer in the world, he who stood between sanity and madness, between relative peace and annihilation. With that definition, he walked with more confidence and purpose, carrying himself with more pride than he ever thought he could have. And with that pride, he found people more receptive to him, more open and more pleasant than he could remember anyone being even into the hazy recollections he had of his childhood.

The man at his side, while Cloud couldn't judge any change in personality given their brief interactions before their separation a year ago and their even more brief reunion, had certainly changed physically. It was a stark reminder to the blond that, indeed, the men and women he'd affiliated himself with through the trials of his arrival on his new world were in fact teenagers barely emerging into the world of adulthood.

He was taller than before, Cloud noting with slight irritation as he had to cast his gaze further up to meet those dark eyes. His hair was a bit longer, waterfalls of bangs brushing against his collarbones rather than dusting the edges of his jaw, the long ponytail unraveled and simply leaving long, wavy auburn locks to brush past the bottoms of his shoulder blades. His Stetson, chaps and duster were missing, and rather than his purple vest he wore a button-up light tan long-sleeved shirt that looked loose and comfortable as it draped over considerably broader shoulders. Denim blue jeans held in place on scant hips by a brown leather belt with an enormous golden belt buckle encased long legs and tucked into the tops of brown boots with heavy scrollwork marring the leather, the style of which Cloud had seen worn by farmhands and cowboys throughout the world.

Cloud blinked as he stared at Irvine's left hand. "Would've thought you'd be wearing a wedding band by now," he blurted.

A sneer took Irvine's lips as he shrugged, lifting that bare hand to brush its fingers through his bangs again. "Nah. Pixierabbit's terrified of the thought of marriage. Unfortunately, what happened with our friends kinda shied her away from it. Propose all I like, and she keeps saying "But Irvy, aren't things fine just as they are?""

"Oh… sorry," the blond muttered with a shake of his head. "Just…"

"Thought that by now we've tied the knot? Me too, my friend." With a slightly bitter laugh, Irvine shook his head. "Doesn't mean we're not together and not in love, though."

A little smile took Cloud's lips even as they began to weave into the crowd that occupied the warehouse. "So, do I get to inquire why you're here?"

"Ran outta money," Irvine chuckled. "Selphie keeps a tight rein on the funds in our house, and my allowance went dry. Seein' as how there's somewhere else I gotta be and tickets are stupidly expensive, I figured maybe throwing my last gil on a few battles might be the best thing I can do."

Deciding not to dig any deeper, Cloud instead elbowed the tall cowboy in his side. "Sounds like you're in the same boat as me. Where're you going?"

"Depends," Irvine responded. "You?"

"Well, I eventually want to get to Balamb City," he confessed readily enough, keeping his voice just loud enough for Irvine to hear him without prying ears being able to pick up on their conversation.

"Huh! Well, can't say I'm going quite that way yet. But sounds like you're going to be wanting to go 'bout the same direction, 'least for a little while."

"Sure does. Maybe if I throw my gil in with yours, we can afford a ticket if you place your bets well."

A wry grin took Irvine's lips. "Oh, trust me. My bets are gonna be placed perfectly. You know, Cloud, I'm game. Let's pool gil."

Soon enough, Irvine had both his and Cloud's cards and was speaking with a man at the edge of the crowd. While they were occupied, Cloud decided to slip further into the crowd to see exactly what was going on.

He wasn't at all surprised to find an illegal fighting ring established. His only surprise was that Irvine was at the location and placing bets on the fights that were being held.

Sliding through the throngs of people to stand near the edge of the shallow pit that had been excavated in the warehouse floor, he leaned against the wooden fence that had been erected to encase it.

The men that were in the pit at that time were beaten and bruised, tattooed flesh more purple than its natural tone. One man with rich chocolate skin and a glistening bald head balled his fists before him, spitting a wad of blood from his mouth and growling at his opponent. The other, brown flesh littered with scars and wounds, his face covered with blood that poured from a laceration hidden by matted black hair, snarled and wiped crimson vitae away from his dark green eyes.

As the crowd cheered and yelled in delight, the fighters sprang at one another, fists flying simultaneously, both men crumpling as those bare knuckles slammed into their opponent's jaw. Teeth flew, a couple clattering against the wooden fence that added height to the pit the men fought in, flecks of blood splattering on the bloodthirsty crowd that howled at the arena's edge for more devastation.

The dark-skinned man crawled to the side of the pit and hauled himself to his feet, the wall providing necessary leverage and support. His opponent remained still, not stirring as he lay in a heap in the dust.

"Victory!" a man at the fence shouted, holding aloft a hand. Cries of dismay and laughs of merriment burst from the crowd as a gate in the fence was swung open and men jumped into the pit to lift the fallen challenger and aid the winner in departing from the blood-splattered arena.

"Our fighter's up next," Irvine stated right at Cloud's shoulder.

Laying his hand over his chest as his heart thundered wildly with shock, Cloud glowered at the sniper.

"Hey, can't blame me this time! You just weren't paying attention. Really off your game, there, Cloud," Irvine said with a grin.

Ignoring the chuckling man, Cloud turned his attention to the man who was getting into the pit.

He was a hulking beast of a man, his huge frame seeming to fill the pit as he stepped into it. Skin that might once have been pale and had been kissed by the sun slithered over enormous rippling muscles that bunched with every move. Brilliant tattoos raced up both arms and traced over strong pectorals, sliding along his sides and tracing his abdominals, snakes and dragons and roses and nude women mingling with writing in fanciful scripts and demons crafted of bones, fire and words. Massive hands with tattooed knuckles clenched powerful fingers into fists that held scars telling of a plethora of battles and victories in the illegal fights they'd seen. Short-trimmed brunet hair that offered no handholds clung to a scarred head with nearly black eyes that glowered towards the crowd, willing his opponent to come into the pit to face off with him. As he walked the pit, a huge hand held aloft to elicit a cheer of exuberance from the crowd, powerful and heavily muscled legs moved him smoothly and surprisingly lightly as they worked underneath loose red workout shorts that reached mid-thigh.

Cloud felt a shudder roll up his spine as he stared at the man, instant sorrow for his would-be opponent washing through his senses – the way he moved hinted at shocking agility for someone with so much muscular mass, his legs spoke of stamina that would outlast all but the most mighty of challengers and his built screamed of power. The blond wasn't at all surprised to hear cheers erupt from the crowd as the man who'd announced the result of the last fight introduced the man who'd entered the bloodied pit as the night's champion.

"Money's on him, right?" Cloud inquired, glancing to Irvine.

"Hell no. This guy's won in this particular circuit for the last thirty fights straight. Odds for the opponent are five hundred to one. Given that I just put a thousand in the pot, we stand to make a hell of a lot of bank; it'll be more than enough to tide us over until payday, at least."

"Wait a minute. You put it on his opponent?" Cloud bit incredulously.

"Yup!" Irvine replied with a chipper smirk.

"Why do I feel like you've just thrown the last of my gil down a toilet?"

"Oh, trust me, will you?"

Cloud snorted and turned his gaze back to the ring as the cheering of the crowd dissolved into cajoling and taunts. He watched the man who carried the fate of his gil on his back hop down into the pit.

Considerably shorter than the massive champion that walked his territory, pale skin carrying the heavy tan of someone who spends hours under the sun, the opponent of the night's top fighter struck Cloud as shockingly calm when facing what certainly was going to be his defeat if not his death. Hands remained in the pockets of simple denim jean shorts held in place by a thin black belt that hung past the challenger's knees, hiding the structure of his upper legs and allowing only well-defined calves give any determination as to what the smaller man's speed and agility might be. Powerful muscles shifted under the skin of the man's arms as he pulled his hands from his jeans and balled them into fists. Strong lines, not accentuated by tattoos but rather by natural sculpting and a smattering of scars, traced an impressive build on the smaller man's less domineering frame. Soft blond hair fell over a thin face, long bangs sweeping over a slender nose and grazing high cheekbones granting the small man an almost delicate look despite the magnitude of muscles that his body displayed. Cold blue eyes watched the strutting champion with bland disinterest, lips flat without any smile of confidence or frown of worry, expressionless as can be.

It was only when he looked more closely that Cloud felt a touch of confidence creep into him.

Bare-chested as all of the pit's fighters were, the smaller man lacked the gaudy mishmash of tattoos that slid over the bodies of most of the night's entertainers. The tattoos that slid along the challenger's skin were of a simple and consistent design; a huge gout of flame done in the art style of the ancient Centra tribal peoples that so reminded Cloud of the markings on Red XIII's flanks erupted from near the man's left hip and slid along his side and back to creep up towards his neck, stopping just shy of diving under the loose hair that fell to the base of his skull.

When the fighter turned his head and Cloud finally garnered a view of the left side of his face, Cloud's eyes sprang wide open with instant recognition. "Holy-"

"As said, trust me."

"Suddenly I feel sorry for the champ," Cloud breathed softly.

The black tattoo that raced along the man's face, sliding under the softly feathered bangs to stretch across his forehead, stretching down towards his jaw and curving along his cheek underneath his eye, was unmistakable.

"Didn't recognize him with his hair down," Cloud admitted with a light grin taking his lips. "Don't tell me he's carrying."

"Nah. We're keeping things fair. I'm holding his GF right now."

Cloud's body ached in recognition as Zell Dincht crouched lightly, hands balled before him in tight fists, bared feet light on the ground as he hopped from one to the other; it was the same stance he'd seen before he and the martial artist had fought upon his unintended intrusion of Balamb Garden, the encounter having ranked among the most painful Cloud had ever experienced. Pity welled in the Knight's heart even as the pit's champion finally stopped his strutting and faced his challenger, huge fists held before an enormous chest and feet firmly planted. "Buddy, you have no idea what you're in for," he whispered, his uttering completely lost in the cries of the crowd.

"Fight!" the officiator cried.

The crowd's cheer overpowered the champion's roar as he lunged at his smaller opponent.

Zell remained still, eyes watching the man's massive right fist scream towards his face.

He ducked in that final moment before collision, the fist barely missing his bangs.

And before the crowd's cheer could dissolve completely into stunned silence, the champion was in the air with blood spraying from his mouth and his chin, his hands falling slack and his enormous body limp. As Zell's fist finally completely stopped its upward travel, the champion slammed into the ground in an impressive blast of dust and blood.

A few tense moments of absolute quiet filled the warehouse, the weight of the night smothering all but the quiet breath of the night's preferred man as he lay perfectly still with blank eyes staring at the ceiling.

His fist falling to his side, Zell knelt at the man's side and quickly laid his fingers on the champion's throat. Seconds passed, anticipation burying the crowd like an avalanche, frosty cold settling into their hearts.

Getting to his feet, Zell crouched and hopped right onto the wooden fence that contained the pit, its height no obstacle. "Won't need the undertaker, but he will need the medics," he told the officiator with a bright fanged grin even as he slid off the fence and wandered out of the warehouse, swinging by the giltender to gather his winnings upon his departure.

"Right," the announcer mumbled before holding his hand aloft. "Victory," he professed without volume or enthusiasm, his voice a timid whimper that still boomed through the still building.

"Alright!" Irvine loudly whooped as he verily danced towards the giltender to collect his winnings. "Man, I am so gonna have a good time down the ol' Red Street tonight."

Cloud held his head as he followed Irvine from the warehouse, watching dimly as the taller man happily twirled his gilcard in his fingers. "You know, that was a rather dirty way to get gil, Irvine."

"Nothin' dirty about it!" the sniper retaliated with a smile. "Not like he was junctioned at all."

"But he's a trained SeeD!"

"And the other guy's an accomplished street-brawler. Fair's fair in the world of illegal pit-fights and betting, Strife."

Cloud grumbled quietly, any attempt at arguing with the sniper fading away as he realized that nothing he would say would be heard. Instead of continuing on with a pointless debate, Cloud decided to tactfully change topics. "So, where'd he run off to?"

"We agreed to meet back at the Palace to divvy up the proceeds. That way no one would know it was a setup."

Cloud swallowed a yelp of concern even as he looked rapidly around him.

"No worries, Cloud. No one's followin' us. They're still checking on their fallen hero back there," Irvine professed with a chuckle.

"Still, shouldn't you be more careful making professions like that?"

The sniper's mouth began to slide open, then paused before closing with a wry smirk. Glancing down at the spiky-haired blond, Irvine chuckled quietly. "You know, you're sounding kinda like Squall. Maybe that bond of yours runs deeper than you know."

"Or maybe Squall just uses common sense, idiot," Cloud muttered softly, knowing by Irvine's rolled eyes that the man had easily heard his rumblings. "Don't forget I get a part of that. It was my money you bet so we can get a train ticket."

"I won't forget! Geez, no one has faith in my ability to manage finances. You, Zell, Quistis, Selphie-"

"And I'm certain that if none of them trust you with gil, there's a reason for it."

Cloud simply grinned as he was bathed in a cold glower.

"Oh look, the lift tube to the Palace. Shall we be off?" the blond Knight observed with an air of indifference, casting a smug smirk at his walking companion.

With a 'harumph' Irvine seated himself and nodded. That being the only confirmation he would receive, Cloud took it as an invitation to join the sniper.

It wasn't long before they were at the Palace, walking past the guards and entering the twisting hallways that extended beyond the entrance lobby. Looking around the opulent red-carpeted passageways, Cloud frowned as his eyes traced over the plethora of men in their tight leather uniforms standing at critical junctions and near windows, their ax-headed guns hanging at their sides and their helmeted heads lending no hint as to what direction they were actually looking. "Security's tighter than the last time I was here," he quietly observed.

"Yeah. There's reasons."

"The assassination attempt?" Cloud ventured.

"Oh, heard about that, did'ja? Who leaked it?" Irvine quickly questioned, a single auburn brow lifting.

"Mr. Loire," Cloud admitted with a shrug.

"Ah. So you were with Spade when he picked the President up."

"I take it that Spade failed to mention that."

"He did," Irvine confessed with a shrug. "Just mentioned that he was playing escort to the Memorial when he found our esteemed President Loire boppin' 'round where he doesn't belong."

"So, Esthar hired you to protect him?" Cloud asked, arching a brow himself and crossing his arms over his chest. "I'd think you'd be glued to him."

"Nah, me and Zell ain't here to protect him. We're here to figure out who's behind it. Seagill and Zabac have the duty of protecting the guy who wants to run away every thirty seconds – can't say that I envy them."

"Neither can I," the Knight stated with a snort. "Any clues?"

"Some. But that's SeeD business, buddy."

Cloud paused his progression down the hall and frowned. "You're still with them?"

"Yup."

"Huh. But… I would've thought…"

"What, that we would've left after last year?" Irvine asked with a small smile.

"Diamond mentioned that one of the Card Club members did. A guy named Jack."

Nodding, Irvine continued his walk down the hall, forcing Cloud into motion to follow him. "Yeah, we've had a goodly number drop away after the entire upheaval with the Commander getting relieved after he inherited the power. But just because the chain of command shifts doesn't mean everyone's going to pack their bags and run, Strife. Quistis is Commander now. And to be frank, she needs us around to back her up."

"Quistis?" Cloud gasped.

"Yup. She'd fill in for Squall when he'd take the rare vacation or go off on an errant mission to escape his office. He didn't have the patience to stay put for more than a couple months at a time," Irvine recalled with a smile and a grim chuckle. "Since she knew how Squall used to work and could most closely replicate his methods and thereby his success, she was the automatic choice as his successor. And, as much as I don't like the fact that Squall bein' what he is makes him the natural target of our organization, I'm not going to abandon Quisty."

"Plus, someone's gotta stay imbedded and keep tabs on what Garden's up to," a new voice professed as footsteps approached from behind.

"Yo," Irvine greeted with a smile. "Dincht, we gotta have a conversation regarding your fight. Your showmanship needs serious work."

Lifting a hand, he grinned widely. "Stuff it, Irv. 'Zup, Cloud?" he greeted, instantly shifting focus, "Long time no see!"

Finally turning his focus completely on the interloper, Cloud's eyes roved once again over the martial artist he'd faced off with then befriended a year ago. Not much had changed – he'd only gotten marginally taller, now standing equal in height with Cloud himself. He was dressed still in those same baggy shorts he'd been sporting in the fighting pit in the ground level of Esthar, having added only black sneakers and a black muscle shirt that covered the impressive tattoo Cloud had never known danced along the rest of his frame. Both hands, bare in the arena, were once again sporting the red metal-laced gloves Cloud had personally felt the impact of so very long ago – in all, the martial artist looked nearly identical to how Cloud remembered him, the only changes truly being the color of his shoes, the missing jacket on his upper body and the relaxed state of his hair, his bangs still hanging around his eyes and masking half of the tattoo that gave his face its incredibly distinctive look. Extending a hand, Cloud grasped the one that was quickly offered in a strong and firm shake. "It's good to see you guys," he acknowledged.

"So, how goes the inhibitor?" Zell asked, his grin firmly in place.

"Fairly well," Cloud answered, releasing the martial artist's hand. "Got every item I need except one. Kind of. I need to find someone who can refine cards."

Laughing outright, Irvine shrugged. "Well, that's easy. We may happen to know where Quezacotl is. Speaking of GFs, take your damned creepy monster back."

"She's not creepy," Zell snorted, his grin fading into a scowl even as he held a hand aloft.

As purple light burst from one SeeD and seeped into the other, the Guardian Force in question transferring between them effortlessly, Irvine huffed. "Yeah she is. Ever since you found that weird pot that slurped down everything we tried to cook in it and offered it to that old girl, she's been weird."

After a few seconds of concentration passed, Zell shook himself out of whatever mental process he was devoted to and shrugged in response to Irvine's observation. "She's just a bit more assertive than she used to be. Besides, she'd like to let you know that she doesn't appreciate being called weird, so you'll never get to use her new ability."

Huffing, the sniper shrugged. "Fine by me. The Devour ability freaked me out enough when only Eden could cause it. Didn't wanna try that GF and her abilities on for size after seeing what she did to our Commander, so no reason I'd wanna give it a go now. Just watch that GF and make certain she doesn't go the way of bat-shit crazy apocalypse heralding man-eater, right?"

"She won't go that far. She just likes T-Rexaurs. Says they taste like chicken," Zell said with a smirk.

"Gah," Irvine whined with a shudder, "don't remind me. But first topic, you. Showmanship! How many times do I gotta mention it? Now we're locked out of yet another fight arena."

A casual shrug moved Zell's shoulders. "He wasn't any sort of challenge."

"But you should've at least made it appear that he was a challenge!" Irvine ranted. "You can't one-shot the champion of a circuit! Duck a few punches. Take a couple of easy kicks. Skirt some rushes and answer with your own. Block something! You know, give 'em a show! They're never gonna let us back in there, 'cause they know there's no one that can challenge you and have a prayer of lasting more than five seconds!"

"Oh, c'mon. That's like asking you to miss when you go to gunnery competitions."

"That's totally different."

"Shyeah, right," Zell huffed even as Cloud smirked and kept his comments to himself. Turning away from Irvine, the martial artist grinned at the Knight and tucked his hands in his pockets. "So, card refining, huh?"

Almost startled by the sudden shift in topics, taking a moment to recall that the younger blond's mind did in fact seem to move at lightning speeds at times, Cloud shrugged. "Yeah. And I need to find one more card," he replied.

"Which one?" Zell quickly asked.

"Squall's."

Irvine and Zell looked at one another, amethyst and cerulean eyes locking for a hint of a second before the martial artist looked back at Cloud. "Um, you do know that there's only one of those in circulation, right? I mean, there's actually a whole deck out there, but I think its owner would kill even you if you were to raid it for that card."

"Yeah, Squall kind of obsessed about getting a complete deck. Ain't no way we're gonna raid that deck for anything. So you're stuck finding the circulating one," Irvine said with a sharp snort. "Remember, Zell? 'C'mon Squall, Ultimecia's waiting in that stupid creepy floaty castle thing. Let's go save the damned world now!'" Clearing his throat, he adopted a slightly deeper tone and growled. "'I'm still missing the Chubby Chocobo card. She has the Chubby Chocobo card. I need it, Kinneas. Interfere and I'll chop your nuts off in your sleep.'"

Laughing outright, Zell shook his head. "Oh, c'mon. He never threatened your nuts. He just outright threatened your life."

"Ah, embellishment. Learn it, live it, love it."

Rolling his eyes, Zell turned his smile back to Cloud. "As said, Squall wouldn't much appreciate it if you took his card. But as for the circulating one… we maaaaay have a clue as to where you can look for it." Giving the Knight a coy wink, the martial artist rubbed the back of his head. "But, of course, information like that just can't be given out for free."

As both the Knight and the sniper arched their brows at the martial artist, Zell pointed at Irvine. "A few moments, if you don't mind."

Cloud waved his hand limply at the shorter blond. "Whatever," he muttered as he leaned against the wall in the rather unremarkable hallway they had all encountered one another in and decided to entertain himself by attempting to find an intriguing feature in his vicinity.

He gave up quickly on trying to focus on the conversation the two SeeDs were having, their voices carefully moderated to keep even his enhanced senses from catching anything of value in their words. Soon he found himself staring at the fluorescent ceiling lamps.

"Yo, we may have a proposition for you," Zell stated, a merry lilt to his voice.

Blinking rapidly to clear the spots from his vision that were being burned into his pupils by the light fixtures he'd been staring intently at, Cloud glanced to the martial artist. "Come again?"

"A proposition. An exchange. You help us, we help you."

"I thought you two were on official SeeD business," Cloud inquired blandly, skepticism beginning to seep into his voice.

"Well, we are," Zell replied. "But… I guess you can say we've had a few issues, and might benefit from having an unbiased third party working with us."

"Unbiased?"

"Poppycock. The boy's spoutin' nonsense," Irvine interrupted, waving a hand at his shorter partner and ignoring his scowl of indignation. "But an extra hand would be pretty awesome. Zell could use someone to stand beside him on the battlefield. With him bein' a short-range kind of guy, my long-range fightin' style doesn't mix well."

"It mixed well enough when we were fighting against Ultimecia and her bunch of monsters," Zell snarled at the cowboy.

"Not so much. Besides, we had a third person in the battle party at all times to cover for when I needed to reload and stick by your side when you needed backup."

Rolling his eyes, Zell grunted, "What you want is someone to converse with while I take care of all the dirty work. Maybe keep you covered if you actually decide to shoot your gun."

"Ah, c'mon! It's not that bad. I'm just tired of bein' dragged into front line fighting. I wield a gun, Dincht. A gun. You know, bang bang? Long distances? My Exeter's for killin' at a good five hundred yards, not for runnin' up to someone and bashin' him over the face with the butt."

Cloud stared at the two. "I thought you did fine with close-range fighting last year, actually…"

"See? He just wants to be covered so he can be lazy," Zell huffed even as Cloud was forced to nod in agreement and Irvine scowled.

"So, what's your reasoning?" Cloud asked a moment later.

"As said, unbiased third party. Plus… well, data recon's not that hard, but sometimes we have difficulty in getting information from others. Mr. Trigger-Happy dingdong over there's great at killing, but not so much in the 'keeping people alive so we can pump them for information' realm."

"Oh, you're no better, Mr. 'Lemme splatter their brains with my fists' Dincht."

"Bite me!"

"Children," Cloud hissed, "Let's reach the point."

"Who're you callin' a kid?" Zell snapped.

"You, Zell. Isn't that obvious?"

"Both of you," Cloud clarified, holding his temple. "So, you want my sword and another mind to process information. Why don't you just ask for another SeeD?"

"Expenses," Zell honestly replied.

"Yeah. Pull in another SeeD, and it ramps up the costs. We've already got a contract with our client, and we two are what the Garden allocated for this job," Irvine added.

"So in other words, I'm not going to get paid for my assistance," Cloud stated blandly, any smirk that might have been threatening to twist his lips at his young companions' antics falling immediately into oblivion.

"Monetarily, not so much," Zell stated quietly. "But we've got other ways we can compensate you."

"You mean information about that card?"

"And about the location of the refiner you need," Irvine added. "We'll cover your costs. You lend us your blade, we get you to the refiner you require and put you on the path to the all-illusive Squall card. Hell, maybe we'll even help you get it."

Cloud frowned as he considered his options. "So… you seriously have all the information I require?"

"Yup," Zell chirped.

"And you won't give it to me without me assisting you in your job."

"Nope," Irvine stated, his long lips forming a smirk.

"What's it say for your organization that you're having to outsource to me?"

"That we're resourceful," Zell said, a shrug moving his shoulders.

Cloud's snappy retort fell instantly from his brain. Somewhere deep in his being, a slithering chill of dread slid along his nerves. "Why do I feel like I'm being dragged into something huge?"

"No reason I can think of," the other blond brightly said. "C'mon. What'd'ya say?"

Looking over the other two men, Cloud couldn't help but smile.

"You know… I'd like to think we're friends."

Blinking, Zell regarded Irvine before turning his gaze back to the Knight. "Well, yeah. Why do you say that?"

"Because don't friends help friends without having to make such extravagant offers? Like how you two ensured I could make it off of the Garden last year without expecting anything in return? And how you both came to our aid when we were at Obel Lake? How you put your lives on the line to make sure we could focus on nothing but our own opponents, and even helped us finish those battles when they were too much for us?"

Irvine grinned, quirking an auburn brow over an amused amethyst eye. "Sayin' you'd help us without the offer of information?"

"All you had to do was ask," Cloud stated with a nod. "Not like I'm doing anything more pressing at the moment. I need that card before I can do anything else for Squall, and with my deck as it is right now I'm going to have a hell of a time winning it regardless of whether or not I stumble across its owner on my journey. Why wouldn't I take time to help my friends? Used to do it before I came here. No reason to change."

"But-"

Pinning Zell with a gaze that froze the younger blond's words in his throat, Cloud shook his head. "Those friends I had in the past are no better than you guys. As said, you put your lives at risk for us. I may have known them longer, but you're just as true as they ever were. I'll help you. You don't have to bargain with me. Kind of makes me disappointed to think you have to do so with me."

Looking at one another, Zell looking somewhat sheepishly at the sniper, the two simultaneously slumped.

"Alright, alright," Zell said, refocusing on the Knight. "Thanks."

"Just call it the 'mercenary for hire' mentality bred into us that keep us from givin' you the info you need for free," Irvine stated with a grin.

"I can accept that," Cloud said with a shrug and a smirk. "So guess that'll be my payment. Let's have a successful job, gentlemen. So, mind filling me in on what we're doing?"

Laying a hand on his shoulder, Irvine flashed Cloud a brilliant smile that put the Knight completely at ease even as he began to stroll down the hallway, his gait relaxed and unhurried while he directed the entire party towards his room. "Right this way, Strife. Welcome aboard."

_-to be continued-_


End file.
